Gravity
by mortalhelix
Summary: After their first time travel experience, Naruto is determined to do even more. Now however, the stakes are even higher as unexpected problems arise.[nonbiased critiques and reviews welcomed][Completed] [2nd]
1. 01 Being Selfish

**Gravity**

**Summary:** After their first time travel experience, Naruto is determined to do even more. Now however, the stakes are even higher as unexpected problems arise. Will things end up the way their supposed to? Or will every go terribly, terribly wrong? (SasuNaruSaku ages-16)

**Note:** I'm bad at translations into Japanese, and I'm also not the best with grammar and spelling, so please bear with me and kindly point out my mistakes thanks!

**Pairings:** no pairings, I don't want to be flamed for it by angry fan-girls. :p

**Warnings:** T in general, there will be mentions of rape in the story, and the chapter(s) corresponding to that content will have warnings placed upon it.

**A/N:** Gravity falls into the same universe as Grace. Same people, same story Line, just different time. Although it's not a prerequisite to read Grace, reading the story before this one might help you (the reader) understand some things.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or anything to do with naruto other than this story which all ideas and plot twists have been of my own creation (unless specified, where as certain ideas will have credit given due)

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"BAKA!" Smack.

"Dooobbbeee!" Smack, smack.

Naruto chuckled and rubbed his bumps and bruises that he had been given by his siblings. Instead, he just smiled softly at them, looking up into the clear blue sky through the canopy of trees. It was no surprise they had landed in a forest near where they had originally left.

He actually didn't answer them, just walked a little ways until he reached a small hill in a clear patch of forest. Lying down, he looked up at the sky. Sakura and Sasuke were very angry with him, and they made sure he knew it.

"Have you ever felt the earth?" Naruto asked, causing Sakura and Sasuke to blink at the random question.

"To have the power to change things… when you come across your first patient, a dying one, you have the power to change everything, but will you use that power to make things better? Or will you stumble and fall backwards unable to move because your petrified of all the things that could go wrong?" Naruto reached upwards with his hand and drew a lazy pattern in the sky above him.

"Are things really complicated, or could they be simplified? Heh, even I have to have a moment to be philosophical sometimes. Say you had a chance. A chance to change everything, prevent people from dying in the first place. Would you take that chance? Not because you could, but because it would be the right thing to do?" They were silent. Naruto just continued on speaking as if he were confessing to Kami himself.

"A chance for a happy ending? The probability of me becoming Hokage is actually rather slim, simply because I cannot take back the lives Kyuubi took. Because of this my dreams are almost impossible to accomplish…"

"Don't say that! Naruto stop being an idiot for Christ sakes." Sakura snapped at him. Naruto grinned.

"I took us back because I cared. I wanted to change things because it hurts." Sakura settled down on his left, Sasuke on his right.

"Hurts, Dobe?" Asked the dark haired one of their group.

"When your clan died, you felt helpless. When your father died, you felt helpless… What if your father never died, Sakura? What if your Clan never died, Sasuke? Everyone says Time cannot be changed. We don't know that unless we try, right? I've never been one to gamble with material possessions, it's either all or nothing. If we don't try, we'll never know. And then we'll be plagued with 'What ifs?' for the rest of our lives."

"What if I killed you right now?" Sasuke growled at him. He was slightly frightened of this side of Naruto, he had never seen it before. Sakura had, once, but only for a second.

"What if I never existed? There are some things I rather not find out; but if I can change everything and make it better, than I will try because I hate seeing my precious people pain over what they couldn't help."

"Naruto… you went back to change everything so that our families wouldn't die?"

"Not just your families, but everyone else's as well. If we hadn't been there, they wouldn't know that stone and cloud would attack at dawn, but because we were there, so many families were spared."

"Naruto, do me a favor." Naruto looked over at Sasuke with a questionable gaze.

"Snap out of this funk. You're not like this at all, and frankly it's freaky." Naruto blinked at him, and smiled softly.

"Lets head back to Konoha and see what changed and what didn't." Naruto sat up and yawned.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked. Naruto merely grinned.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure. But I suspect that people who are supposed to be dead will just randomly appear and come back to life, their graves completely disappearing, but their memories will not. Everyone will remember that they died, and they too will remember they died, but… well maybe not. Maybe everyone will think they were in a coma or something. I don't honestly know. I do know that the memories that people have of us before we went back in time, will stay the same and will not alter." Sakura grumbled under her breath and threw Naruto a threatening glare.

"This is really confusing, I don't understand at all." Naruto shrugged at her.

"Ma, I need Ramen!" he suddenly bolted and ran down the hill, only to stumble on a rock and roll down the rest of the way.

"What the hell was that all about?" She asked, standing as well.

"No clue. He's completely strange. One too many bops to the head, ya know?" Sasuke even demonstrated much to Sakura's amusement.

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"There's a town not far from here." Sasuke spoke up. "Actually it's just around the bend." He mentioned, much to the tired delight of Naruto and Sakura, the former complaining loudly about having to walk.

"Yush! So who are we going as?"

"Why not as a family, since that seems to be the topic of the day." Sakura suggested.

"Hai! I'll be the daddy, Sakura can be the mommy, and Sasuke can be the kid." Naruto was grinning from ear to ear. Sasuke cracked his knuckles and Naruto paled considerably.

"Heheh, I was joking!" he threw his hands in front of him and waved to fend off his angry friends.

"Naruto, you know the Akuma-henge, you have to be the kid." Sakura explained while she threw on a Henge. Sasuke followed her lead. Naruto sighed. He looked at Sakrua who was now a brown haired older version of herself, and Sasuke a blond haired older version of himself.

"Fine, fine… Akuma Hange!" unlike the normal henge that created a genjutsu around a person, akuma henge actually physically altered the body. His body took about 5 minutes to shrink to that of an 7 year old. His clothing of course, was now too big for him. But the second part of Akuma henge solved this problem as his clothing puffed into smaller sized versions. Even his voice changed.

"Mooom, can I get an ice-cream?" He asked Sakura while taking her hand. Sasuke was trying his hardest to not laugh, and Sakura was blushing, reminding herself that it was 'good practice for the future'

"Ask your father." Sakura replied, desperately trying to not laugh.

"dad?" Naruto pouted. Sasuke was shaking with the effort to refrain from giggling.

"Ah.. sure.."

"Yatta!" He grabbed Sasuke's hand and swung in-between them, like any normal child would. Naruto wore a big grin on his face. Being a kid again wasn't so bad actually.

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Naruto sat on a public bench licking his ice-cream cone while 'mommy and daddy' went to go clothing shopping and supplies shopping. They were, at the very least, 3 weeks walking distance away from Konoha. They would need it the supplies.

He was happily licking away when he smelt a familiar scent. It tickled his nose as he tried to place where it was from. Was it….. Ramen? No. something else. Dango maybe? Nope. Ah well, it wasn't his concern. Instead he occupied himself with finishing his ice-cream. Once he was finished, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. From there he started to write.

When he was finished, he put the paper in an envelope, and from there wrote 3 words as two who the note was addressed to. Looking around to make sure he wasn't watched, he calmly went 'exploring.' The truth being he was taking an indirect root to the local park. It was empty.

Sighing, he began the one handed seals again.

_To Sakura, Sasuke._

_Gomen. But like I said, if you have the power to change things for the better, would you hesitate? Or go for it? You know where to go, so go there. I'll come back later, tell Obaa-chan about our adventures!_

_It's just that… this time… I want to selfish for once…_

_Naruto._

"U….. ZU… MA… KI!" Naruto froze in his second to last seal. That voice. That putrid and vile voice. Naruto turned around slowly and gasped horrified. No, he hadn't been back a full day yet! How could he find them?

The man chuckled, red hair stirring in a sudden breeze as lifeless black eyes grinned sickly at him.

"I found youuuuuuuu!" Naruto was frozen; he realized it was Kanashibari no jutsu and he gulped. Akira came at him again, he felt a strong sense of déjà vu happening. He felt the kunai press against his neck this time…

Kyuubi was the one to take control of his hands and perform the last seal, breaking the kanashibari as well. The familiar sense of being frozen in time as red chakra swallowed both of them whole, they stared at each other. Akira was trying to move, but he couldn't move, neither could Naruto for the matter as everything started to wind backwards…

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"Survival test? But we've already done one of those." a strawberry blond haired and hazel eyed girl spoke up

"Ah. Still…you have to get these 2 be-" The man speaking was interrupted as a globe of red chakra with enough force to whip trees out of the ground arrived some feet away. Thinking fast, the man grabbed his 3 students and vaulted backwards.

"Nani?"

Two figures immerged from the red sphere. And as if released from some spell, the larger red haired man slashed what looked to be a young child's throat. The Jounin gasped, horrified.

"Hey!" The Red Haired man looked at the other person, and seemed to realize something upon looking at his face

"Oh? Well this is interesting." He giggled, licking the blood off his kunai before he disintegrated into sand. The Jounin instructor couldn't get to him in time to engage in battle, which was probably a good thing.

"Rin, Obito, Kakashi, go home, NOW." The blond haired Jounin picked up the bleeding child and disappeared in a yellow flash.

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Wooo! First chapter done. If you notice, this is also the ending chapter of **Grace**, because I combined epilogue, prologue and chapter 1 of **Gravity** and **Grace. **Obviously I cut some things out that were strictly having to do with the Grace plot line, so I apologize if this chapter seems short.

If you have any opinions on what Yondaime's name should be, please let me know!


	2. 02 The Problem with Lies

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies.

Flaming Beauty – gah! So many questions! Well, they will all be answered over time of course. And of couuuuurse I'm going to boss them around a bit :p kekekekeke.

endolphins – you are very right. Logically speaking, one would cease to exist once their purpose has been served. However, this IS Naruto we're talking about, and although time is unchangeable in many aspects, certain people can change time… in my story. If a normal human traveled back, nothing would change, however Naruto isn't normal, now is he? Plus, fiction doesn't need verisimilitude, hence why its fiction, I will try and explain some things, but it will be challenging to make it so that everyone understands.

Thank you everyone else who put in ideas and reviewed either this chapter or the last chapter of grace. Thank you!

Seems like 'Arashi' won.

A/N: before I go any further, I want people to know I have purposely messed up the time line a bit. So the ages for certain things are changed.

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"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura slowly reached out to him, but all Sasuke did was shove a piece of paper in her hands, snarling.

"That BAKA! That stupid, stupid baka!" He continued to growl as Sakura read the letter. She sighed, she had been afraid of this ever since Naruto had gone all philosophical on them.

"Naruto said the jutsu he used can only be used with demonic chakra mixed in, right? Who else do we know that could potentially send us back to get him?" Sasuke stopped in the middle of his rant and thought about it.

"Gaara?"

"Hai." Sakura smiled sheepishly at him. Sasuke eyed her.

"You knew he was going to do this, so you had a backup plan… didn't you." He accused her. She merely chuckled at him.

"C'mon, we have to get to Suna as quickly as possible without being noticed…."

"Can we make a drop in at Konoha? I think Tsunade might be pissed enough to send some other people with us..." Sasuke grinned evilly at the prospect of witnessing their former sensei's all ganging up on Naruto.

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"Ah, Rin? How's that mysterious patient?" Asked a blond haired young man, possibly in his twenties. The girl he was speaking to was a strawberry blond haired young girl, possibly around 13 or 14 with hazel eyes.

"He's healing nicely; he just needs plenty of rest. He's suffering from chakra depletion on top of his wounds. Arashi-sensei, why did you stop the training for this week?" She eyed the man. Said man sweat-dropped and scratched the back of his head.

"Well… I was worried, and as Hokage I want to know what happened. There's already an investigation going on, but no one seems to know anything, or who they are or where that guy went…." His joyful facial features frowned as he went into serious mode. Rin sighed and continued walking down the corridor. She was met with the sight of her team-mates gathered by the new patients door. Obito (about 13, black hair and black eyes) in his usual fashion was yelling at Kakashi (13, face mask white hair and black eyes) who was 'too cool for school.' Kakashi seemed to not be paying attention to him at all.

"Ooooobito." Arashi put his finger to his lips. "Shhhhh, our mysterious patient could be sleeping." Obito merely huffed and folded his arms.

"Are those for him?" Kakashi spoke up, nodding towards Rin's bouquet of flowers.

"H-hai.." she blushed. Arashi mentally giggled.

"Well let's go see him since we're all here." It had been three days since the blond haired young boy had arrived. He had been out cold according to Rin. The concerned Hokage and his other two students frequently visited. Each had their own reasons, but they never spoke a word about them.

Rin slid the door open and stared. "Huh?" her bouquet fell to the ground and she ran forward into the room, followed by the others. She looked out the open window and cursed.

"He got away." Yondaime looked out the window and sighed.

"Yush! This is your first c-rank mission as a team under my tutelage. Find that kid and bring him back. Obito and Kakashi you cover the south and west parts and Rin and I will cover the east and northern parts. On your marks! Get set! GO!" he even pulled a firecracker to get them started.

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'_This wasn't supposed to happen. Akira's presence changes everything. I have to find a save place and leave-'_

'**And leave that man here to wreak havoc? Kukukuku petty humans…'**

'_Then what do I do? I'm not supposed to reveal myself. The plan was to deliver a message with the alternate seal on it. Plus I have no idea what I should do!'_ Naruto was growing flustered as he tried to lose the ANBU on his tail. It was no surprise that they had been watching him. What surprised him was that Yondaime and his students were also searching for him.

'**Humans are so stupid. Just stay and protect them. Is that so hard? If that human kills the one that sealed me…'**

'_Shit. So many things would go wrong. So many people would die. Shit, shit, shi-' _Naruto ducked a water jutsu someone had thrown his way. He turned around mid jump to face his pursuers. He landed, sliding on the ground and coming to a crouched position.

'**Gaki, don't call on my power. You're still not healed properly.'**

'_I know damnit, leave me along you stupid demon fox!'_ Naruto mentally snarled, nearly missing the net coming down on him. He rolled to the side and avoided it.

"C'mon kid, there's no need to run away." _'Wrong, there's every reason to run away. You're just oblivious.'_ Naruto thought to himself as he surveyed his situation. Unfortunately he failed to see someone behind him.

"Kage mane no jutsu, success." Naruto's eyes widened. Like the time before the final task of the Chuunin exam when he and Shikamaru had confronted Gaara, Naruto could still move, however his legs were 'locked.' He stood up properly and looked backwards at his attacker. Even with the ANBU mask on, the man was surprised, very surprised that Naruto could move.

Two people landed in front of him, and he turned to see the faces of Rin and… Yondaime Hokage. He tried not to show any reaction, but he found himself staring almost into the face of himself, minus the whiskers. It was eerie…

Rin was wearing a simple white shirt and skirt with none of the fashion of his time era. Yondaime was wearing the usual Jounin uniform, but wore a white cloak with a blue lining inside and red flames reaching skyward on the hems.

Yondaime Hokage, otherwise known as Arashi was having a strong sense of déjà vu, it was almost as if he were looking at a miniature himself, only with whiskers! The boy wasn't wearing the hospital robes he'd been supplied, and instead was back in the clothing he had come in. Black pants, black shirt, brown vest and a strange looking white pendant. Clearing his throat, Arashi started to get to the bottom of things.

"What _are_ you doing? You're still injured; you shouldn't be running about now! But since you're awake, I think it's about time we got some answers." He watched and waited for a reaction and got none.

"What's your name kiddo?" The boy paled before them. The ANBU members were on standby, waiting to see if the kid would escape.

'_To tell them my name or not… damn…'_

'**Tell them your name.'**

'_What the hell? SHUT UP! Since when did you become a chatter box all of a sudden!'_

"Hellooooo? Anybody home?" Naruto blinked to discover Yondaime mere feet from him, waving his hand over his face trying to get a reaction.

"N-! Naruto…" he said slowly, gouging Yondaime's reaction. None. Okay, so he obviously hadn't met his mother yet or thought of baby names. This was good.

"Naruto? what's your clan name?"

"I don't have one, it's just Naruto."

"Oh…" they lapsed into silence, Naruto was still being held by the kagemane jutsu, so he couldn't move, and it didn't seem like he was going to be released any time soon. He hoped this interrogation wouldn't last long and that somebody would save him.

"Right, next question, who was attacking you?" Arashi asked. Naruto eyed him warily. How much should he tell?

"Akira." He answered dully.

"And why does he want to kill you?" Here Naruto scoffed angrily.

"Beats me. He's been obsessed with it for well over a year now." At this Yondaime visibly looked surprised. The kid could hardly be any older than 8, not even! The only kid he knew that was so advanced at a young age was Kakashi, who was already chuunin level. In fact, he thought Kakashi was just… unique. He couldn't imagine another kid like him.

"Right. Well then Naruto… why were you running away?"

"Because he'll come after me. Being here puts people at an unnecessary risk." No more than the truth, but from the mouth of a seemingly 6 year old child it was startling.

"Well we can protect you." Arashi said, scratching the back of his head. Naruto actually found himself getting angry at that.

"Protect me? Not unless your willing to put your live on the line every moment of every day. You already have a war to concern yourself over. Why risk yourself over a measly child?" This probably wasn't a smart move to make, for now Yondaime looked confused _and_ angry, and the ANBU were tense and alert.

"What War?"

'_Oh shit.'_

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Tsunade was in a pinch. A serious one. Rubbing her temples she called up those she knew would be trustable.

"Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, Kurenai. Go! Round up _everyone_ that is supposed to be dead or remembers dying and bring them to training area number 12. Got it?"

"Hai!"

Tsunade sat back down with a sigh. There had been just under 100 ninja's just spontaneously appearing with a large number of civilians. And unless Orochimaru had somehow orchestrated a mass Edo Tensei, this shouldn't be possible. She banged her head on her table and groaned.

Just what in the flaming fiery pits of hell was going on?

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"What war!" Yondaime ground out, grabbing Naruto by the cuff of his neck and started to shake him. Unfortunately this broke the Kagemane jutsu on him. '_scary… Super, super scary.'_

"The one with… stone…." He gasped out, feeling several twinges of pain coming from his neck.

"Sensei! Stop, his injuries!" Naruto was suddenly very glad for Rin's presence, for Yondaime stopped shaking him and started fussing over his neck wound.

"Oh! jeeze are you okay? I'm sooo so sorry." Naruto mentally filed Yondaime in his 'people who are insane' filing cabinet. How many mood swings did this guy have?

"But… what war?"

"It hasn't happened yet." Naruto realized that by saying this, he was incriminating himself badly. Arashi's eyes widened almost comically, an ANBU stepped closer as Rin took a step back.

"What do you mean, hasn't happened yet?" Yondaime was glaring at him. _'Scary, super, super scary.'_ Naruto stared at him. He had to make this believable somehow. He reflected back to the chuunin exams when he had fought Gaara, harnessing those emotions, he fed them his hastily made lie.

"I am a Konoha Ninja, but I don't come from the main village. Rather a side village. We were asked to scout the boarders between waterfall and stone by the daimyou of waterfall, since our small village was closest to his. It was a simple c-rank mission, get rid of the bandits… demo..." he paused for dramatic effect. "We were attacked by ninjas. My team and I were aware of the treaty between Konoha and Iwa. However, we did not cross boarders while in Waterfall, the attack was against the treaty terms as far as I'm aware, and thus breaking the treaty is an act of war against Konoha, follow me so far?" He eyed Yondaime. Arashi was stern, serious looking and nodding to every word.

"Who was on your team?" Naruto could not escape Yondaime's suspicions.

"My brother and sister, Sakura and Sasuke."

"Who was your sensei?" Naruto twitched slightly. Damnit. Who could he say without incriminating himself?

"Haku-sensei." It was the first name that came to mind after everyone else's. He supposed it couldn't hurt much.

"Hmm... there's a small establishment there, but I thought it was a Kanson?" He said, eyeing Naruto. Naruto shrugged.

"We were the last ones. Personally I think Haku might have come from Hidden Mist though…." He added as an afterthought. Yondaime looked deeply interested while Rin was standing there wondering what to do. The ANBU closest to them however, gave Naruto bad vibes.

"Why do you say that?"

"My siblings and I were the only ones left inside our village, Haku came and accepted us as pupils, but he taught mostly water jutsus, that's why." Naruto shrugged.

"I don't even recall how I got here, only that I was fighting. How long was I out for?"

"3 days." Naruto looked taken aback by that. Wait, 3 days and he was still tired and his wounds hadn't healed? What the hell was going on?

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"So your telling me that this is all Naruto's doing, somehow?" Tsunade eyed the missing-nins in front of her. They fidgeted beneath her penetrating gaze.

"Hai." Tsunade rubbed her temples. The world of time was beyond her comprehension, or anyone's comprehension.

"Tell me again Sasuke, what happened?" She threw him the nastiest glare she could conceive.

"Right… Naruto took us back to save us from certain death. After that we lingered, and decided to help Konoha out by fighting in the battle with cloud and stone. But, Naruto lied to everyone saying time wouldn't be changed. My guess is that time is changing as we live in it. That's why people are coming back randomly." Tsunade sighed, resting her head in her hands on the desk and stayed like that for a full silent minute. She knew what Sasuke had said was true, but so unrealistic.

"People's memories are starting to change as well. I can clearly remember Naruto now, but before those memories were blurred, as if something was making them unclear. However, now that people are coming back, some of my memories have started to change. I take it this is the same with you?" they fidgeted again.

"Hai." They answered. Truth was, they hadn't even noticed it until 2 days ago when Sasuke suddenly experienced a flashback of his 10th birthday being celebrated by his _parents and brother_, when his clan had been killed by Itachi when he was 7.

"Not only that, but, Sasuke your Clan…" Sakura softly whispered. Her black haired companion merely nodded. Though Itachi wasn't there, his parents were and his Aunt, however no one else had come back. He had actually run terrified of seeing them in his home suddenly. Tsunade sighed again; frightening enough tears were streaming out her eyelids.

"That Naruto is a huge Baka. And now he's gone back again? So this whole mess is Naruto's fault eh? What next? Our memories change completely and we won't even remember things about ourselves?"

"Iie." Sakura spoke up boldly.

"Our memories of Naruto, they haven't changed at all." Tsunade looked at her in surprise.

"Mine haven't either, come to think about it… its only little things that get tweaked." She paused, seeing Sasuke's angry look.

"Little things?" he ground out furiously at her. She narrowed her eyes again.

"To me, your parents' being alive is little, as I actually didn't know them well enough in the beginning. The changes are little or big depending on the person. But in terms of changes in our memories, their little. Have you had any altered memories aside from the birthday one?" Sasuke shook his head, no. in fact it was the only memory.

"Everything that we have experienced will remain the same. You going off to Orochimaru will be the same, Naruto going off to train with Jiraiya, things like that will all be the same, and those memories will not change. In fact… our memories probably aren't changing; we're just getting new ones…. ARGH! This is so freaking complicated!" Tsunade banged her head against the desk repeatedly.

"Like a double set of Memories, but both are true? If people understand that, there'll be less insanity…" Sasuke spoke up, giving her his best Uchiha deep gaze. Tsunade sighed.

"I think we should go after him."

"Huh?" Tsuande looked up at Sakura.

"We met a few enemies on the road, Hokage-sama. We felt Naruto's chakra with someone else's; that we know is an enemy. We can only assume that they went back somewhere… together."

Tsunade sat there, pale as a ghost.

"J… jesus! JESUS!" she stood, her chair falling to the side as she started to pace.

"If this is the result of going back and changing things only a little… then... oh dear gods. We need to know where he went… and we need to get there quickly. Stay here. SHIZUNE!" Tsunade roared.

"Hokage-sama?"

"Send for Kakashi and Iruka immediately."

"Hai!"

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Naruto opened his eyes slowly and turned them to the side. Rin was there smiling with a snoring Obito on a chair against the wall. He was about to fall over in his sleep. Recalling slightly that this was his last day in the hospital, he sat up gingerly.

"Has anything been decided yet?" Rin nodded, and bit her lip with a small smile.

"Well, Naruto-kun, Hokage-sama still wants to keep an eye on you, so you'll be hanging around us for however long." Naruto yawned.

"Cool."

"AWESOME! So like... what techniques do you know? Can you teach me any? I heard you know Water Jutsu's… how cool!" Naruto blinked before registering that no, it was not a clone of how he used to be when he was 12 but in fact Obito standing right in his face.

"Ah... sure, I'll teach you a water jutsu..." not quite knowing what to say.

"Then shall we go meet Kakashi at the training area?" Came a joyful and amused voice from the doorway. Naruto looked up into the dazzling blue eyes of his 'new' sensei.

"YUSH!" Obito raced out, Rin and Naruto following at a more leisurely pace. Naruto turned to the girl and engaged in conversation.

"You're a Chuunin, right? And Obito as well?"

"Hai, Kakashi-kun just recently became a Jounin though." Naruto was surprised by this.

"Wow. But why are you still on a team, like Genins?" he asked her calmly.

"Simply put, we're still young. That was the excuse they gave us. I'm not complaining." She blushed. Naruto mentally groaned however, god… not another immature girl! Honestly, between the 4, Rin, Obito, Kakashi and his unknowing father… he didn't know if he'd survive. The prices of being selfish.

It was all the bloody fox's fault.

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I AM SO SORRY! I realize that this is a confusing chapter, but please… just bear with me. And…. Try not to think to much on the time traveling repercussions, its hard enough finding ways to make everything work :p and there are supposed to be large holes on Naruto's lie…. And advanced apologies for grammar and spelling mistakes.


	3. 03 Young Love

**Gravity   
**

Standard Disclaimer still applies.

dragonxpanda – email me (email's on profile)

Mrs. Nozomu Sohma + EatsPaint – Well.. Kakashi was 26 when he got a genin team, if you minus Naruto age (12) and that's 14.. In my story he's 13… which would mean Yondaime would have been a Hokage for just over a year…. I consider a short time well within a year, after all Sarutobit rules for something like 50 years… >.>

Zed of Vesper – pretty much, yes. Or if someone tells me they dislike my story because there are no pairings, that would be an opinion based review, because that person doesn't like 'no pairings' they put down my story without looking at anything else, I like constructive criticism, rather than a biased criticism, I'm not saying no one can have an opinion… just.. don't be harsh oo (does that make sense at all?)

Thank you everyone for reviewing! I look forward to the next ones!

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, school decided to spring some tests on us randomly. So yes, spring break is over… so slower updates. But no worries, right:p

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"Right, so where were we? Oh! Okay so like listen up." Yondaime scratched the back of his head awkwardly, thinking to himself how troublesome 4 kids will be

"Right, so what you have to do is-

"Matte, shouldn't we get to know each other first?" Rin interrupted, giving a pointed look towards the withdrawn Naruto off to the side. Arashi blinked several times before grinning like the idiot he was

"Gomen! My name is Arashi, 4th Hokage (except I 'let' the third do all the paperwork…) just call me Hokage-sensei or something. I like to eat and I love the village. My dream is to live to a hundred and 3 and to get Himeno-chan to go out on a date with me." He grinned sheepishly and pointed next to Kakashi

"Your turn!

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, and that's all you need to know." Naruto developed a huge sweat-drop at the back of his head. Same old Kakashi, he was lucky he already knew enough about him

"Obito's turn!" Yondaime stupidly proclaimed. _–my dad is the living representation of a furry goof-ball…- _Naruto didn't know whether to be horrified or terribly, terribly amused

"Haaai! My name is Uchiha Obito! My goal is to surpass Kakashi and I like food and playing games. I hate people who think their cool." If anything, this caused Naruto's sweat-drop to increase

"Rin, you're up!

"O-kay! My name is Rin, I like my family and…" she looked over towards Kakashi. "My dream is to become the best medic nin and…" she looked at Kakashi. "And I dislike loudmouths." Was it just Naruto or did Rin look specifically at Obito and Yondaime when she said that? Suddenly he had the feeling of impending doom, centered on a team led by a spiky hokage

"heheh… right. Naruto! Your turn!

"My name is Naruto, as you all know, I like and dislike many things and my dream is to protect those who cannot protect themselves….

"Oh come on! Tell us more!" Obito was disappointed by the 'lack' of information Naruto had given. Naruto rubbed the back of his head awkwardly and thought up of some things to say, why not be honest

"Hmm? Okay. I like strong people, and ramen. I also like sensitive and caring people. I dislike people who won't open up to others, and cause those around them to be pushed away. However I don't so much as hate them as I pity those types of people. I don't believe in hate but that in itself makes me slightly hypocritical. I have a total of some 10 people to kill off and will not hesitate to maim and harm anyone who hurts my precious people." It was true, to an extent. Sasuke and Sakura were the exception to that last rule. Naruto couldn't hurt Sasuke severely after he broke Sakuras heart. Noticing that he was getting some rather unusual stares from the others, he nervously tried to laugh it off

"What about your siblings? You haven't told us much about them." Arashi brought forth, curious as to why Naruto seemed unable to answer for a moment

"Hmm..? my siblings are not related to me my blood. Sasuke is a Sharingan user and Sakura is a medical specialist."

"NANI? No way! That's not possible! There is no one in my clan that has the name 'Sasuke' you're lying." Obito pointed at him rebelliously. Naruto mentally grumbled

"He's illegitimate. I doubt his father realizes he fathered a son. Before his mother passed away, she revealed the fact that the one who fathered him was as drunk as she was." _­–I sincerely hope he does not kill me for that.-_ Naruto shuddered at the prospect of how enraged Sasuke would be. It appeared, that, for the moment Obito had accepted that response, though he was still wary

"What about yourself though, Naruto-kun? We want to know more details!" Rin spoke out; earning nods from the others (Kakashi was indifferent

"Ahhh… what do you want to know then?

"Well..." Rin was interrupted however by Kakashi, who now seemed to get into the spirit of 'pick on Naruto day.

"How many missions have you been on?" the soon to be copy nin asked. Naruto blinked. Why not be honest for once

"ahhh? Not too many, I think. Just a few.

"What ranks?" Yondaime asked, curious as to what this kid was capable of

"Oh… hrmm… 12 S-rank, 11 A-rank and a few b-ranks…." Seeing their eyes bulge from their sockets, he hastily continued. "Most of them were only infiltration or spying missions; since I'm small I can get into a lot of places…" he waved his hands in front of him as if fending off a bad spirit

"Wow... and your only 7…." 6 actually

"Heh, like I said… I'm small so...

"What types of Jutsu's do you know? Can you teach me some! Pretty please?" Obito was so awed by Naruto that he was literally shaking with restrain not to explode in his usual demeanor. He was also about to fall off his seat. Naruto grinned

"I know lots. I've been studying since I could walk basically." This made the bubbly Arashi frown. Rin seemed to still be trying to say something while Obito and Naruto engaged in conversation. Even Kakashi was staring avidly at him

"Feh! Naruto why don't you teach _us_ today? Instead of what I had planned?" He sincerely hoped this kid was boasting

"An.. anou.. Naruto-kun? When you were in the hospital I saw... markings on your navel." Naruto blinked, cursing at his foolishness. Of course she would see it! The Akuma henge jutsu worked wonders, but it made the seal visible at all times as a minor side effect. He quickly searched for a believable story

"You know the Chakra gates? Well, you know that by opening them they do a lot of harm to your body, right? Well, the harm to your body principal applies to normal chakra as well. When I was born, I was born with an extraordinary amount of chakra, which harmed my frail body. So, my father created a seal with would lock away most my chakra. Those were the markings on my stomach. If I need the chakra badly, I can unlock it." He explained

**'Nice save, Gaki.**

-_Go AWAY!-_

He noticed that Rin was pale, and the others slightly confused.

"Wow, you must have been in serious danger of dying." Yondaime commented. Naruto felt a familiar pang in his heart

"Yeah, I was. But it's okay now. Whenever I used to release it, it would be uncontrollable. But I have full control now." He gave a broad fake smile that easily fooled them. He could tell that Yondaime's suspicions had not left, in fact had grown and increased, but he wisely said nothing about it.

"Well so long as it's controllable, there's nothing do worry about." Arashi smirked evilly suddenly, and everyone was on guard. Arashi gestured to everyone to stand, which they did, warily

"Aright! Teach us oh great and masterful blond midget!" Naruto glared a storm at him.

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"Iie. I cannot." The sand master spoke evenly without tearing his eyes from the black scroll spread across his knees

"Doushite?" the Copy nin ground out, his arms cross, glowering

"It requires a specific amount of Chakra, and if he's gone back to the time you think he's in… than only those who are 17 or younger can go.

"What do you mean, Kasekage-sama?" Iruka's voice did not betray how worried he actually was. Worried and angry at the foolish blond they were trying to rescue. Gaara sighed heavily and rubbed his temples

"The Jutsu requires many things. First and foremost, the right amounts of Chakra to tear a rip into reality and into the time stream, and from there go against the current. At least, that's how it's explained. Second would be the right amount of Chakra to create a temporary unmovable void in which the Third action sends the past people into this void temporarily as the present people take up residence in that persons spot of time… and then the fourth thing is the right amount of chakra to get back while simultaneously release the people in the void. With my chakra potential, I only have enough to get there and back with 2 other people.

What Gaara had just said went completely over the heads of the Jounin, chuunin and recently missing nins facing him. Hell, not even Gaara himself understood all of it, he was simply reading off the scroll. ­_–only a super genius or an idiot could understand this…-_ And Naruto _was_ an idiot

"Imagine, if you will, the potential psychological effects of seeing yourself from the future? Not only that but Shukaku will not listen to what I say, therefore the chakra requirement is one sided, not double sided." Gaara knew Shukaku would most indefinitely not agree, he didn't like being sealed back inside of Gaara no more than Gaara was that Shukaku's spirit was once again inside of him

"What if we manage to convince Shukaku?" spoke up the tired, yet dark and brooding voice of the Uchiha as he spoke up.

"Even so, I can still only take 2 others with me. The jutsu in itself would take months to learn. If by them you are able to convince Shukaku…I will leave with Sakura-san and Sasuke-san. Until then you are welcome in Suna." Gaara didn't wait for a reply, nor did he wait for them to stand and bow as he left.

"Naruto…" Kakashi whispered, thinking of the blond

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"Right… so.." Naruto looked at his patient (and impatient) students of his. –_Damnit! Why so I always end up teaching? I didn't _ask_ for it this time! Bahh!-_ Shaking his thoughts from his head, he surveyed first his surroundings, then his students.

"Okay." Naruto went directly into teaching mode again, completely forgetting the fact that he was in his 6 year old body

"Sensei probably knows a lot, and thus can help. I'm going to teach you a basic jutsu for every element. That it so say: Stone, Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning and ice. Now the easiest to learn is stone, then wind, then fire, water, lightning and finally Ice. Therefore we're going to start backwards with Ice first." He smiled evilly. "Of course, if you haven't mastered the jutsu within a week, we will be moving on regardless. I'm not going to waste time. Now! Since we're not near a water source, it'll be even more difficult to use Ice." His smile turned into a feral grin

"But that's nothing you can't handle, right?" he held out his palm and used heat to cause the area around his hand to heat up, and the moisture to gather and then eventually form over his hand. Altering his Chakra, he created a thing layer to serve as a cage to keep the water in. It came out in a slightly oblong shape.

"You all know how to heat things, right? But do you know how to freeze them?" He then proceeded to change his chakra again; causeing the water floating above his hand to freeze at an abnormal rate, and the globe fell to the ground and cracked; frozen all the way through

"You have a week to get the trick down, and then a week to learn what I'll teach you next." He explained. He used to think manipulating water to create ice was a bloodline, but he had been startled to discover that it was in fact very easy… once he learned how. Although he couldn't create the demonic ice mirrors that Haku could, he could create the sebon needles from ice, however it took a slightly longer time to create than most other jutsus, therefore he was going to teach them ice Shurikan, which was easier to learn

"After we've managed to teach you a basic jutsu for each, I'll go on to individual talents. Such as Rin for example, she's really good for mechanical and technical medicine, but lacks the chakra healing techniques, which some of them I can teach. You others well, we'll have to see." He silently thanked Sakura and her patients for teaching him those medical Jutsu's perhaps then Rin would be able to- no... Mustn't let his thoughts stray there yet.

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Two weeks had passed, the only ones to get the technique was Yondaime and Rin. Surprisingly, Kakashi and Obito were both taking longer than expected. Naruto merely told them to practice it on their own time. And when they got to Fire Jutsus, they could practice their Ice jutsus, since both already knew at least one fire jutsu.

After the first week, Naruto had left them to their own devices and had gone exploring, in reality he was trying to find his 'potential' mother. He had no luck the first week, and the second week he had become too busy to look for her. How hard could it be to find one Himeno? He just hoped that when he found her, she wouldn't be that tough

"Yo! Let's get some lunch! I'm starving!" Yondaime shouted, causing Kakashi and Naruto to wince. Who would have ever thought that Yondaime would be so loud? Speaking of Arashi, he had grabbed onto Rin and Kakashi knowing full well that that Obito and Naruto would follow willingly.

It did not take them long to get where Arashi had been planning to eat, however it did take them long to actually _go_ in. Why? There was a pretty Red head sitting with her back to them on a stool. That's why. Finally Arashi got up his nerve

"Ohayou, Himeno-chan!" Naruto did a double take. This was Himeno? No wonder he didn't find her! She was a civilian, not a citizen. The difference being, she wasn't a ninja. When she turned around, she smiled at Arashi, but didn't say hello. Naruto noticed that his eyes came from her. Those same large overly expressive blue eyes of hers. Pity Arashi didn't pay any attention to them. Yondaime was trying to engage her in conversation and failing miserably

"Ne Ne, Himeno-chan…" Naruto tuned him out long enough to order before turning to his bumbling sensei, and taking a clue

"Sensei… please shut up. You're giving me a headache." So much for taking it slow. What he received from the blond haired Hokage was a glare to last a lifetime. He shuddered. His clue was that Himeno wasn't giving him the cold shoulder, with that type of greeting, but neither was she responding.

**'Probably a mute.   
**

_-That would… HEY! Get out of my head you over sized plushi!   
_

He sighed; Silence was in fact, golden. Then again, so was ramen for that matter. One taste and Naruto ordered more and more. He hadn't had Ichiraku Ramen for some time. And it never lost its wonderful taste, even here in the past. All that could be heard was mouths stuffing themselves. And Naruto's continuous orders... after all... Yondaime was paying

And much to everyone's growing horror, Naruto took full advantage. He ignored Himeno's questioning looks towards him, and instead focused solely on his missions; consuming as much Ramen without throwing up as humanly possible. Rin was disgusted, Kakashi was staring, Obito was sobbing quietly at being bested… and Yondaime was Horrified that he was being beaten by a kid

There was just no way a 6 year old could consume 15 bowls of Ramen… just no way. Arashi sighed and emptied his wallet, signaling that it was time to leav

"Naruto! Your so cruel…" Yondaime sobbed hysterically into a pile of yellow goo. Everyone giggled or laughed to some degree, but Naruto's overly sensitive ears caught a soft giggle that was feminine, and didn't belong to Rin. He smiled. He now had an ace up his sleeve, an advantage in his father's love affairs he could exploit. Hurray! Time to play... match maker

After all, with the current time line, he had something like 3 months to get conceived… oh boy.

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"Okay! We have a simple b-rank mission!" Heads perked at that. It was into Naruto's 3rd week of being here, and so far mission 'hook up dad' was failing. However, maybe he needed a different approach? His thoughts were soon interrupted by the eager to kick ass Obito

"What's the mission, Sensei?" He asked, nearly falling out of his seat. Arashi chuckled

"Trash Removal!" He proudly told him, with a slight puff of his chest

"Eh! That's a D-rank mission!" Naruto couldn't agree more. However, the Hokage merely looked at him sheepishly

"Oooh? Who ever said that? We're just going to be sent to deal with some missions Nins in rice country, that's all." He smiled wickedly at Obito's gob smacked expression. And when that expression turned to one of glee, Arashi chuckled. Even Kakashi looked excited, however Naruto was anything but

"What Rank are they?" he asked carefully.

"Hrm… They'll be chuunin, possibly with a Jounin with them." Naruto mentally groaned. That wasn't good. During the times when he made Kakashi-sensei speak about his past, he remembered a blotched mission they took to rice country. Something about it being

"Oi! Wakey, wakey!" a hand came into his line of vision and waved frantically in front of his face. "Anybody home?" he glared at both Kakashi and Obito who were pulling on each of Naruto's cheeks.

"Cut it out!" he smacked their hands. "What?" he snapped, slightly unnerved he had been snuck upon to easily. He rubbed his tender cheeks

"We have half an hour to get ready and meet at the gates." Kakashi said as mater of fact. Naruto grumbled, shooting them one last glare before retreating to his rented apartment. It was a simple one room, but served its purpose. Packing only weapons, clothing and extra underwear he set out.

He was there in less than 15 minutes, and no one had arrived yet. Naruto was contemplating the probability of being duped when Yondaime arrived not some 2 minutes after him. And 7 minutes later, Rin arrived. 20 minutes later, Kakashi arrived followed by Obito some 6 minutes later. All in all, they were only 20 minutes later in getting started.

Certianly better that Kakashi's track record of 3 hours in Naruto's present time. Thinking about it made him smile. Hell, he was even late to be the savior sometimes. But late or not, he was dependable, including the excuses. Obito claimed a dog grabbed his backpack and ran off with it; Kakashi claimed some kid's grabbed his backpack and made off with it. Either way, Arashi, Naruto and Rin sighed before setting off

"Let's go!" Naruto decreed. He was itching to get into a fight, once again completely forgetting he was in the body of a 6 year old.

**'Gaki! Don't do anything that would connect you to your father… and for Christ-sakes! Act like your damn age!   
**

_-what? 16?   
_

**'Humans…' **Came the growled and dangerous reply of the fox inside of him. Naruto however brushed him off. He was well aware of the things he could and could not do… contrary to popular believe.

The trip to rice country was fairly easy and they met no opposition, even when they proudly wore their leaf Hitai-ate. Naruto mentally sighed, if his suspicions about this mission were right (which on average, any suspicion came true about 9 out of 10 times) than this mission was going to be tough.

"This is the third and final small village we'll run into before we run into the Main City and meet our client. The city is beyond those mountains over there. So scout out around this area and meet back in this location" Arashi told his students sterly. They nodded seriously and broke off into different sections of the town

Naruto however Yawned on his way out of the village, purposely stopping in a darkened alley way and began what he deemed, an efficient strategy.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu." He whispered softly, watching as 10 clones appeared before him. Sending out mental signals he outlines his plans to them.

"Henge!" they called, each one turning into something different. Naruto now had facing him, 4 crows, one black kitten with white socks, 3 squirrels and 2 snakes. Smiling a satisfactory smile, Naruto walked out of the Alley and 'went about his business' again, which was walking around the village. A black kitten and 2 crows also wandered aimlessly around town, while the other 'animals' disappeared into the forest covered path leading into the City. There, in the narrow pass would be a perfect place for an Ambush, if Naruto's geography was anything to go by. He was determined not to be kept unawares.

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4 people were discussing their options in a cave made by some trees in the forest. They were blissfully unaware of a snake and squirrel seemingly to be harmlessly listening in on their conversation

"So they send Konoha after us? This'll be fun…

"Ha! Did you see them? They're mere genin! And that kid? Hardly even past diapers! BAH who would let a baby become a ninja?

"Kukukuku…. I like eating little babies…they bleed well...

"We shouldn't underestimate them. Their Sensei could prove a problem…

"Konoha's week-

"That jounin is the recently elected Hokage." That nicely shut the first voice up as the fourth voice sighed heavily, only to be interrupted by the second voice

"Bah! It's what Bunta said, their weak.

"Let's have some fun, pretty please?" the third voice of the group asked, quite distinctly insane. The last voice could only sigh again as she was out voted

"Very well, here's what we'll do…

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Surprisingly it was Naruto who was late to the meeting place. Mostly because he was processing what his clones had overheard and coming up with a counter. He canceled all but two of his clones and returned to the group on hour late

"Where were you?" Rin demanded, hands on her hips in a menacing pose. Naruto nervously chuckles

"Eating and exploring really." He was way better at coming up with excuses than Obito, Kakashi and Arashi combined.

"Well come on then, if we leave now we can make the City by nightfall…" Yondaime told them with a smile, he was about to set off when Naruto spoke up

"Wait. We're looking for those guys, right? So shouldn't we go in a formation, regardless of where we are? I noticed we didn't do such a thing on our way here." He commented lightly, aware that Yondaime's suspicious look had returned

"What do you purpose?" Naruto had to think about it before grinning evilly. He hoped Shikamaru in his time would forgive him for the theft

"Kakashi-kun up front, since he has very good senses, so he can deal with anything head on, followed by Rin who can help him in he gets injured." He paused before continuing. "After Rin, will be you followed by Obito. That way no matter which direction an attack comes from, you can aid either side. Plus there's your speed too. Obito is a powerhouse, so he can provide support. And then finally me, I also have good senses, and will be able to tell if an attack comes from behind. I can also if we're being followed and deal with them until you arrive." Naruto was grinning at his 'clever' plan. But in reality, he stole Shikamaru's plan for the time when they went after Sasuke when he defected.

"Hmmmm…. You have valid points. We'll try it out and if it works, well then we'll go with it…" Arashi's mind was working frantically. The kid was incredibly suspicious, and nearly screamed that something was amiss with him, that was why Yondaime had him on his team instead of some other team. He sighed, best no dwell on it right this minute.

"Let's go!"

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There, see? Lack of updates means Helix worked harder and made extra long chapter. OO. You know. I write my chapters during my spare time in school... I had no idea that it would be this long… XD oh well! There you have it folks

I apologize before hand about mistakes and words that should be other words… I'll fix them when I'm awake to do it. Oo


	4. 04 Plots

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer stilly applies

Usagi-no-Kasai – Aww, trust me, there shall be more Ramen and some random funnies.

Tigerrelly – "Fixed?" god I hope you don't mean what I _think_ you mean…

Thank you so much Dragonxpanda, for taking the time to comb through the chapter and fixing things! You get Kyuubi's button! (and a random plushi)

×—×—×—×—×—×—×—×—StoryGoesHere×—×—×—×—×—×—×—×—

They decided to take as short break before heading into the narrow pass through the mountains. Naruto took a sip of Rin's water (having drained his own) and yawned. He felt terrible for what he was about to do, but the "mission" came first. Although… this particular mission was-

"Oi! Time to move!" Arashi hollered at them, marching off and leaving the 4 children scrambling to gather their things. Obito groaned, as was typical of him now, and they set off again. Naruto was receiving two mental signals from his Remaining clones telling him that they're would be attackers had set the trap. Faking a yawn a second time, he purposefully hung back slightly as his continued up ahead.

"I'll be glad when we're back in town. I'm beat." Naruto heard Rin speak from somewhere in front of him, while receiving an urgent signal from a clone. He couldn't act yet; the timing had to be perfect… THERE! Stones, more like boulders came tumbling down into their path, fiercely intent on crushing them.

"LOOK OUT!" Naruto however, ignored his own advice, didn't look, and instead concentrated on a ball of Chakra in his hand. He blasted it outwards, more specifically, directly in front of him. Obito, Yondaime, Rin and Kakashi shot out of the pass like the cork from a wine bottle.

They rolled on the ground, bruising painfully on sharp jagged rocks that littered the ground, eventually they stopped moving from the force of the blast. Slowly they got up stiffly, and wincing as they discovered their bruises.

"What happened?" Obito.

"We were blasted out before we were crushed." Kakashi.

"oh…" Rin. Obito was swearing colourfully at his injuries while Yondaime was, up until this point, gravely silent. Rin had started to tend to Obito (as Kakashi was too cool to get injured) It was then, that she realized something was missing, but it was the cool Kakashi that voiced it.

"Where's Naruto?" He asked, his eyes frowning as his masked face searched the nearby grounds, as if hoping to see him pop out and tell them it was all a joke. Yondaime winced involuntarily.

"Under there…" he pointed to the mass of rocks they faced, the blocked pass they were jettisoned out of.

A pregnant silence followed his statement, as the young children stared horrified and helplessly at the mass. They had experienced death and killing before. It was nothing new to them. But Naruto was... too young… Almost invincible from the way he had taught them. No way had that pint sized shrimp bit the dust…

"We have to dig him out! He could still be alive!" Obito, the loud mouthed passionate ninja was reduced to an emotional pile of goo. He refused to believe it. He was shocked to tell the truth. Just no way-

"No." It came out harshly and cold with a slight waver, but none-the less Arashi's voice slapped them like whiplash.

"WHAT?" the Uchiha screamed, tormented by the thought of his Sensei turning his back.

"No, we continue on with the mission-" Yondaime watched as Obito shook with restraint. Kakashi and Rin we're silently watching. How had the mood turned so swiftly?

"True... orders are orders… and those that don't obey the rules are trash... BUT THOSE THAT DON'T TAKE CARE OF THEIR FRIENDS ARE WORSE THAN TRASH!" Yondaime paled, but remained firm under Obito's explosive temper.

"Obito…" Rin muttered softly, placing a restraining hand on the boy's shoulder. Even Kakashi was deeply impacted by the usually dumb idiot's insightful words.

"What use is taking care of your friends if their already dead? Learn from it Obito. A 6 year old body could not have withstood all that-" he gestured to the blocked pass. "Shinobi or not…" Obito did not say a word, and he doubted he would for a long time. Yondaime sighed, looking back at the pass with mixed expressions.

Naruto was mysterious, and Yondaime couldn't find it himself to trust him. Had he planned this when he saw the chance to escape? Naruto had displayed early signs of wanted to run from Konoha, such as the hospital incident. Who was Naruto? Was Arashi just being overly suspicious of a kid who miraculously survived having his throat slit not long ago? Or has his suspicions sent a 6 year old to a stony death?

There was no use in pondering it now, what was done was done. Their attackers might still be nearby. They had to move fast, find their client, and see who they were up against and…

"Obito-Kun... we stick to the mission. Sacrifices are a part of being a shinobi, you chose this life." Yondaime didn't want to say it, he didn't want to remind them, and he didn't want to be cruel. But it was the truth, not a sugar coated version that would lead them on false hopes for their 'friends'

They left, begrudgingly, but they left, casting mixed glances at their friends unfortunate grave. Kakashi told Obito they could come back and find the body and give a proper burial to the blond kid. Rin was lost in through, snatching a look towards their sensei. He had given up on Naruto too easily, _shinobi or not_…Was there something else that he was hiding from them?

Yondaime too was lost in thought. There was something similar to that blast of chakra. Almost… like… a spiral of energy coming from the boy's palm. Almost like… the Rasengan…

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"Well?" Asked an angry female voice.

"They must have sensed us…" One began.

"4 escaped." Another told.

"Got the little one though… a shame… I wanted to play with him…" said the last.

"You can play with the others Saki." Promised one.

"Oh? The blond isn't dead yet... I would know… I've fought him before." Bodies whipped around to face an intruder to their hideout. A Man with red hair, his face etched with shadows and blurring any noticeable features; except for that hair, that unnatural red hair.

"Who are you!" they armed themselves, but the tall man merely chuckled.

"I have a proposition for you. The blond isn't dead; he will meet up with his team soon. I will pay you handsomely to distract his team…"

"How much?"

"Bunta!" the female gasped, not relenting in the grip of her weapons as she stared shell-shocked at her 'comrade' as the promises of money won over common sense. How could they not feel this man approach?

"Enough…" to demonstrate, a large sack overflowing with gold coins dropped from the man's hand to their feet.

"Deal." Two others nodded. The female, and probably the only smart one, was outvoted… again. She sighed.

"What is your name?" one asked, lowering his weapons and returning them to their holsters.

"Oh me?" though they would not see his face, the feeling of utmost ill and unease filled the room; they shivered as a tendril of this man's madness touched them.

"Just call me… Akira."

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Naruto took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He shifted on the rock he was sitting on and watched from his hideout. Unfortunately, the Nins that had attacked were smart enough to move base. He could not find them, today at least.

_Flashback_

"_LOOK OUT!" Naruto however, ignored his own advice, didn't look, and instead concentrated on a ball of Chakra in his hand. He blasted it outwards, more specifically, directly in front of him. Obito, Yondaime, Rin and Kakashi shot out of the pass like the cork from a wine bottle. _

_He allowed himself the luxury of watching as they all, one by one, were in the safe zone. He was aware of the boulders falling around him, but he made no move to defend himself. His senses ticked off, a boulder was making a beeline to his head. Enough to crush him utterly. He cowered._

_But made no move to defend himself. Instead he brought his hand up to his chest and formed the tiger seal._

"_Henge." He muttered softly._

"_Kawarimi no jutsu." A crow on top of the cliff face to Naruto's left had spontaneously turned into a Bunshin, and from there switched places with the original._

_Once again, there was a crow on top of the cliff face. The action had been two swift, the clone had been undercover and hidden from the eyes of the lingering attackers. And thus, the action was not noticed._

_For all intents and purposes, little Naruto looked like he had indeed, been crushed._

_End_

He sighed. He knew, just knew things were going to get real bad. First, there was his blatant 'betrayal' or… seeming betrayal at least. Then there was the Akira factor. Naruto could have sworn he felt the bastard nearby.

The mere thought that a battle with him could occur made Naruto tremble in fear. He was when fighting seriously, on par with his father, and fighting with everything he had, surpassed his father. Sasuke and Sakura as well were about the same levels.

And triple teaming Akira got them… where? Oh right, a week in a hospital back in time. He shook. Bad, bad, bad terribly bad. He prayed to whatever god there was out there that such a confrontation could be avoided. He didn't want to end Yondaime, Rin, Obito and Kakashi's life prematurely.

He wanted to be born.

And the fact that the possibility of not was lingering in the air that Naruto was most afraid of.

'**Then you would have never had to becoming my container and live a horrible first 13 years!'**

_­-Contrary to what you may think, I'm glad for it. If anything, the experience has made me stronger.-_

'**Despite the overwhelming possibilities that you could have ended up as Gaara before he found true purpose…'**

_-But I didn't… Hey... did you just use big complicate words? Wow! I'm proud of you! You get a button...-_

'**GAKI!'**

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"Arigato, Hiruma-sama." Arashi muttered, politely leaving the Daimyou of Rice country and returning to the guest quarters where his team was waiting. He was seething. Rin's eyes were wide as she caught sight of him, Obito ignored him, and Kakashi shifted uneasily.

"It would seem…" he started off drying, trying to remain calm. "That our esteemed contractor…" now he was being deliberate in his sarcasm. "…had neglected to inform us of a multiple threat."

"NANI?" On one hand, the shouting was unnecessary, on the other, Yondaime was glad Obito had said something to him. It proved he was listening at least. He sighed.

"Aa. The first threat lies with the Fuuma Clan who are rebelling against the Daimyou and are stopping all trade imports and exports, trying to offset him from his title and put someone better in charge, we were hired to either a) eliminate them or b) settle a peace treaty with them so the Daimyou can get his goods back."

"What's the second threat, Sensei?" the Dark strawberry blond haired young girl asked, biting her lip as her mind started to unravel many different possibilities.

"The daimyou has been trying to send out an important diplomatic letter to Cloud. But Mist shinobi keep interfering, killing off the messengers for unknown reasons. Hiruma-sama does not wish to reveal what is in the letter, which is one of the reasons I'm so pissed off."

"You think it would bring Cloud and Water to war, with Rice country as a harbour base for Cloud?"

"It's possible…" he was also thinking about the friendly terms cloud and stone were on. Naruto's previous conviction of stone's intent of war on konoha was indeed accurate as it was confirmed only a day after he had made the claim… what if the letter was being passed onto stone? He usually had very good and accurate suspicions when it came to these types of things.

"So what are we going to do?"

"Start with the Fumma clan, get a treaty signed between them and the Daimyou that's fair, and then move on to the mist shinobi…" Yondaime looked at the silent Obito. '_And then bury Naruto… I suppose'_ Obito was never one to be silent, and it unnerved him greatly.

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Naruto yawned and sat up, stretching from his wonderful nap. Actually, it had been about 9 hours since they had all separated and it was morning. At least, for him it was as such.

He yawned again and stretched some more, pulling out kinks and cracking his back a bit. He stopped and paused to listen to the wildlife around him, finding nothing out of the ordinary; he began to walk towards the city.

He hadn't gotten two steps when arms snaked around him and pinned his small childlike body to a larger imposing figure. He froze.

"Hello… Naruto-kun. Did you miss me?" Naruto started to shake.

"A… Aki… Akira………."

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	5. 05 Troublesome

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies

XTakaX27 – No, no, no, unless you've already read Grace (Akira is briefly mentioned in that one) you haven't missed a story. Akira is merely one of the villains in my story, who he is and his past and stuff isn't very relative, seeing as Naruto himself doesn't know why.

GMan – I know he was being hypocritical, hence why he didn't actually wanted to say it. And hence why Obito was giving the 'silent' treatment.

Miako - -hugs back- lol! Thanks. T'was an evil cliffy.

Thank you everyone else for your kind reviews! This chappie

**Warning:** Slight M content.

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Signing a peace treaty had been easy. Yondaime had done it early first thing in the morning when the others were still asleep. He had a very bad feeling that something was coming, and he didn't want them kids to be bothered by petty politics when pretty soon they were going to have to defend their lives.

His suspicions were never, if anything, wrong. He sighed, normally hanging large spheres of ice cold water above people's heads would be an entertaining form of wakening them up, but he was frowning deep in thought instead. He nearly froze his water and upon realizing this, he quickly released it and the result was very angry, yet awake, students.

"What the hell was that for?" Obito cried, and flung a pillow at their Sensei foolishly lingering at the doorway. Luckily, he ducked the offending object.

"Yo! Don't be laze-a-beds! Get up, get up, get up!" he grabbed the still sleeping Kakashi by the foot and with a push, had him sprawled on the floor. And unfortunately, he was still asleep. Apparently Kakashi was a deep sleeper. Arashi's eyebrow twitched.

"Sensei? Throw something potentially dangerous at him." Rin supplied generously while she and Obito yawned and started to get dressed. Rin went to the washroom with her clothing while Obito stayed in the 'boys' room.

Yondaime raised an eyebrow at the girl before she left, and took her advice. Taking out a kunai, he flung it at Kakashi. The result was very promising.

"AHHHH! We're being attacked! AHHHHH!" Arashi coughed. The usually stoic Kakashi was… having a panic attack. Dear gods. He snickered, watching Kakashi emerge from his cocoon of blankets with a befuddled expression on his face. They all knew he did it for fun, but it was still amusing. Kakashi grinned sheepishly.

"Eh… can't be too paranoid…" he pointed out as his pants landed on his head, curtsey of (a silent) Obito.

"Yes... you can never be too paranoid." Arashi agreed, falling sombre as he remembered just what paranoia's he had.

"Sensei?" Rin spoke out from behind him as she moved to her bed. Good… now that he had everyone's attention…

"Get everything you need together. We're going to go find him." He explained.

"Find who? The mist shinobi?" Arashi paused on the way out of the door and looked back.

"Iie, though we will inevitably find them. No, we're going to go find Naruto."

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He hadn't gotten two steps when arms snaked around him and pinned his small childlike body to a larger imposing figure. He froze.

"Hello… Naruto-kun. Did you miss me?" Naruto started to shake.

"A… Aki… Akira………." Said man chuckled darkly and physically nuzzled Naruto. Naruto felt his eye twitch, his trembles did not cease, when in fact they worsened. He could say he was not afraid, but his body told an entirely different story.

"Isn't it a shame that I cannot play with you?" Naruto felt himself be turned completely around to face the man. He was forced to look into black pools surrounded by pale skin and unnatural red hair. He gulped.

"Take me back you pint sized shrimp." The snarl promised malice, as Akira's face loomed before his own, an inch away from his face.

"I…..Iie……" Naruto gasped out, well aware of those claws like hands were tearing into the skin on his arms and sides as the grip Akira had on him tightening. He had effectively cut off all possible forms of blood circulation. Why was it always like this? Why could he never move? Why couldn't he move?

Akira leaned in close to Naruto, but not before Naruto saw the sick and twisted grin on his face that promised all sorts of forms of macabre.

"You know what I will do if you do not take me back, ne… Naruto-kun?" he asked sweetly.

_-Move… Move… Move…-_

"I will rape your mother before your father….."

_­-Move..Move..Move..Move-_

_­_"I will cut her open before him…."

_­-MoveMoveMoveMoveMove-_

"I will kill your father, using your mother's corpse…"

_­-Move!Move! goddamnit! Move!-_

"I will upon cut open Kakashi's skull drink wine from it. I will have Rin… become my _personal_ servant, and I will take Obito's eyes and force him to eat them… I will kill them all. Every last one. Every last villager. Every last stay dog. Every last blade of grass. Your pathetic village will be no more. Nothing but a blackened scar…." Akira licked Naruto's ear, as his nails drew more blood from their intensive grip. Naruto shuddered; his akuma henge jutsu had left him with a huge physical disadvantage.

_­-no…no…no…NO! NO! MOVE! Please! No…-_

"Heh… even if you did, I would cease to exist… and so would your ticket home." He caught Akira's bluff, or so he thought.

"You're not that stupid, Naruto-kun….No? Still won't comply?" A fist made contact with the blond boy's stomach as all the air fled from his lungs, leaving him gasping for air. His predator circled him.

"Ne… Naruto-kun?" brought down to his knees, he barely heard Akira's approaching steps. Naruto saw his feet before being gripped by the neck and hulled upwards, unable to feel the ground beneath him.

"Shall I? I wonder how well your mother would scream… ne? ne! Much like the pink haired girl did, you think?" Naruto saw red.

He was dimply aware of being hurled through several trees, of having his ribs broken as Akira trampled him. He was vaguely aware of Kyuubi's encouraging breath in his mind. He was, however, acutely aware of his opponents heart beat. He wanted it. To tear that heart out and kill that man.

Naruto had never wanted to kill someone so bad before. Not like this, not like this pure… animalistic intent. He would kill, and he would enjoy it. For their sakes.

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-Sigh- "This was too troublesome…." Shikamaru looked down on the floor, to see a panting Ino and a slightly ticked off Gaara.

"Way too troublesome…." By now, the young Nara was very much used to being glared at hatefully, especially by Ino.

"Ino?" Shikamaru turned his head barely enough to look at Sakura, who had been waiting patiently beside her 'brother' Sasuke. Trilled as he was to see them, he couldn't get over the changes in them, Their sibling companionship, their new appearances, everything.

"Success…. Shukaku agreed…. On one condition…" Ino breathed out in-between panting breaths. They all looked at her in surprise. They had all, shamefully, thought that this wouldn't work. Even Gaara was surprised.

"What was the condition?" Sasuke asked his voice stony but the worry for his team-mate never far from his mind.

"He wants someone to complete the seal that binds him to the Kazekage… so that he can stop worrying about being assimilated into Kazekage's mind." She explained, getting up with a groan, rubbing her arms and shivering. The experience hadn't been something she would do out of fun, that was for sure.

Silence met her statement as people tried to figure out a means to do that. Unsurprisingly it was Shika who voiced his opinion about the situation.

"It's doable; we have to contact Jiraiya-sama, as he's a seal expert. But it will take more time."

"We don't have that time…" Sasuke hissed at him, as if it was all Shikamaru's fault.

"Naruto doesn't have that time." He snarled at them again, having to be restrained physically by Sakura. He was interrupted however by a new entry into the ANBU guarded room in Suna. Everyone went for their weapons, except for the exhausted Gaara and Ino. They turned to face their intruder, who had managed to get passed the ANBU.

"Speak your purpose." Sakura demanded, as Shika merely looked and calculated the probability that this one man's intentions were not evil.

"I can help you." A low husky voice claimed, as the figure stepped into the light.

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"So you think Naruto is alive, Sensei?" Kakashi asked, running through the trees with the blond haired Hokage.

"Everything about that kid is surrounded in mystery, that's why I had him placed on this team, so I could keep an eye on him. Before I kept thinking this was another escape attempt, but the more I've thought about it, the more I think it's unlikely. If he was an enemy shinobi, why teach you guys?" he asked, turning his head to Kakashi, and then backwards to Obito and Rin behind them. Obito was thinking quietly to himself, but they were listening in.

"I just don't like leaving things unfinished. There was also something strange about the way we were attacked and the formation Naruto put us in. As if he knew before hand what would happen… Besides… Obito being silent is scary." He added with a wry smirk. Earning a glare from the hot headed Uchiha. Kakashi's eye only smiled in agreement to that. They were nearing the blocked pass when something attacked them from the left; or rather, someone.

"Suiton, Suishouha!" A large body of water collided with them, only to reveal 4 logs of a well placed kawarimi jutsu used by the Konoha ninjas. The young kids immediately sprung into action.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Obito called out from his position, creating 5 clones or so. The clones masked the original as Obito turned into a fuuma shuriken. Rin caught Obito and waited to attack. Kakashi went for a direct assault against their opponent with the remaining Obito clones as backup.

"Suiton, Teppoudama!" their attacker fired a large sphere of water at them, like a bullet. Kakashi ducked, and 2 Obito clones were taken out. Kakashi engaged in a taijutsu fight while Rin got into position. Seconds later, a large Shuriken started flying towards the pair, only to be flung off away by more opponents

"Fuuton, Renkuudan!" A sphere of chakra enhanced wind flew Obito off course and dispelled his henge jutsu. Obito crashed into a tree as Rin was forced to defend herself against two opponents that were bigger, and faster than she was. Gritting her teeth she was forced onto the defensive.

"Bunshin Bakuha.." Softly muttered a blond haired man. Arashi left his exploding clone with his opponent and went to ease some pressure off Rin. In terms of numbers, they were even; 4 opponents for the 4 of them. However, in terms of level, they were slightly outmatched. Rin and Obito were low Chuunin, and Kakashi was a low jounin. These people were experienced were easily high Chuunin, low jounin level as well. And their sensei was definitely high jounin. Said women that he had been fighting suddenly came into his line of vision, blocking Rin from his sight.

He gulped, realizing that turning his back had been a really, really stupid move. Exploding clone or not. He winced as he was punched savagely in the face and guts a few times before mounting a counter attack.

Everyone was facing their own battles now, Obito had taken one of Rin's opponents, Kakashi against the missing mist shinobi, Rin against another missing mist shinobi, Obito against a missing suna nin and Arashi himself against an extremely talented missing ninja from the cloud.

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"Oto Denpa no jutsu!" Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth and bellowed an ear piercing scream. The result was multiple shockwaves doing physical damage to the area, trees turns to sawdust; the ground heaved and dented by the sheer force and amount of chakra Naruto put into the attack.

Akira merely smiled, standing there and letting the carnage go past him, as if he was an apparition, and not truly there. Which he wasn't. Naruto gasped as he felt smooth and cold metal slide into his abdomen, Akira's face lingering before his own.

"Tell me, did Takako have fun with you?" Naruto paled at those words, and snarled at the red haired man, grabbing the long crimson strands and with all his might, punched the bastard in the face. It was the first time that Naruto had actually gotten a clean, good hit on Akira, and he was momentarily proud of himself.

"hehehehe…. Kawaii…" Akira came in fast, leaving Naruto no time for block the incoming kick. They had been at if for an hour, this battle between them. And it mostly consisted of Naruto getting his ass whopped. And Akira… Akira was only playing with him.

"Kuso…" he whispered, forcing his weary and badly battered body back on its feet again. None of this was supposed to happen.

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"Damnit! Fine then! Be that way! See if I care!" Huh? What? Was Arashi having a tamper tantrum? No, he was just mentally messing with the women's head as he prepared his Jutsu.

"What… are you on?" The missing nin stared at him in utter bewilderment. However, the Hokage merely smirked. He had already thrown out a few of his specially marked Kunai, and grinned at the women, catching her off guard.

"Hiraishin no jutsu" he said simply, before becoming a yellow flash. In a second the women was dead, But Yondaime didn't stop, he continued on to Obito's opponent, who was near a previously thrown special kunai, and slit the man's throat. He left again in a yellow flash and appeared in front of Rin, a plain kunai jabbed her opponent between the eyes and then he was gone again, this time towards Kakashi and his opponent. And all in a matter of 15 seconds, their opponents were dead or dying on the forest floor.

"Well that was fun! Now, off to search for Naruto-"

"…on't find …'em." Yondaime stopped and turned facing his last opponent who was now bleeding to death.

"And why is that?" he asked coldly.

"That... Akira... person…. Really wanted to… play-" but that was all he got out before the inevitable happened and the man died. Yondaime went pale as a memory of a red haired man slashing Naruto's throat entered his vision.

"Sensei?" Rin's frightened voice interrupted and Arashi shook his head, now wasn't the time.

"St-" a large shriek came from somewhere to the right of Arashi's position, followed by a very strong surge of Chakra and what sounded like various explosions. Yondaime gulped.

"Stay here, dispose of bodies. That's an order." And he left at his highest speed attainable without the hiraishin jutsu to aid him.

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Naruto smelt slat in the air as he realized they were very close to the ocean. Rice country had no beeches, only steep cliff sides. If they got to a Cliffside, hopefully he could lose himself in the water and escape. Unluckily for him, that was a very distant hope.

"Tired already, Naruto-kun? Are you going to obey me now, Naruto-kun? I wonder how your mother's blood would feel on silk…."

"Don't you DARE! I'll fucking kill you, to god I swear upon it." Naruto spat viciously, preparing to attack.

'**Clear your head, Baka! Or you'll just end up on the ground again! Sheesh, you make me look bad…'** Naruto ignored the Nine-tailed fox's complaints, but did follow his advice.

Naruto settled into a basic stance, earning an eyebrow raise from his opponent. Why such a simple basic, stance? Naruto smirked devilishly and then took off, becoming nothing but a yellow black blur of motion as he charged straight at Akira.

"Katon, Kasumi Enbu no Jutsu" Naruto spoke, taking a huge gulp of air and releasing it in a steam just as an explosive note went off, catching Akira off guard for a split second when the mist Naruto had conjured turned into a raging inferno. Underneath Naruto's feet, the ground suddenly split and Naruto was forced to jump backwards. However, he was grinning from ear to ear. He just thought of a cool jutsu he could test out right now.

"Well, here goes nothing…. Shoukei no jutsu!" he called, after forming the ox, hare and horse hand seals. He was surprised on how well it worked as the area flooded with a blinding light that made looking into the sun like a thousand times worse (exaggerated, of course).

Naruto was not aware that Yondaime had been watching, nor was he aware that when he had created the mist fire, Yondaime had used the opportunity to fling his specially marked kunai into various places. However, Naruto did hear it quite distinctly when Arashi's voice called out from his left.

"Hiraishin no jutsu!" using the blinding light that Naruto had created, with his eyes wide shut, Yondaimne used his advanced chakra senses to pin point Akira's presence, and under the light, went in for an attack.

Naruto landed clutching the knife still lodged in his abdomen while the light faded to reveal Yondaime with a kunai imbedded in Akira's throat. But Akira was grinning.

"Like father, like son. Why am I not surprised that you of all people came? Kukukuku…. Maybe another time, Naruto-kun…" and Akira's formed disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced with a log. There was a heavy silence as Yondaime turned back to look at Naruto with a frown.

Naruto however, was not paying attention to that, has he focused on the knife in his abdomen, and then coughed several times, a small trickle of blood making it's way down Naruto's purple and blue and pale white face. It was this display that Yondaime realized how bad the little kid's condition was.

"Shit, Naruto!" the blond haired whisker faced boy looked up at him wearily as if judging the realness of Arashi's presence.

"Yo, didcha miss me?" Naruto collapsed, breathing heavily. If he fell on the knife, it would be very bad… He still had not pulled it out, as he didn't want to bleed to death before Kyuubi got off his lazy ass and healed him. He was lucky that Yondaime had a clear enough head to catch him.

Arashi noticed how Naruto stiffened in his arms, as if unused to the type of contact. Then again, what Shinobi, no matter what age, would be 'used' to being carried bridal style? Arashi mentally grinned. Naruto however, was having different thoughts as he eventually relaxed.

_-is this was it feels like to have an actual Father? Admittedly he doesn't know… still.. This is… nice…-_

'**You know what's nicer? Tsunade's bre-'**

_­-I do NOT want to know thank you!-_

"Arigato." Naruto whispered, fainting finally in Yondaime's arms. Arashi frowned and remained staring into the little boy's face. So familiar… why? And what was with the father and son comment?

"Let's get you to Rin." Was all he said, and disappeared in a yellow flash back to the Kunai still in his team's area while complicated and worrisome thoughts went around in his head.

Who was Naruto?

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**Oto Denpa no jutsu**– Literally means 'sound' and 'radio waves.'

**Shoukei no jutsu**– Shou means to burn, and Kei means light. So the translation would be something like Burning Light, or blinding light.

Those two were my original Jutsu… so if you wanna use 'em, go ahead just tell me :p


	6. 06 Reunion

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies

Flaming Beauty – so sorry to disappoint (not really) but there shall be more evil cliff-hangers of doom around the corner.

EaterOfPaint – next chapter…. :p

Certified Anime Addict – glad I'm not the only one who seems to think that…. And believe you me; Akira's 'nature' was completely accidental… -cough-

Zed of Vesper – um… Naruto has demonic regenerative capabilities due to the fact that the 9 tailed fox demon is sealed inside of him and doesn't want Naruto to die, as in both the manga and anime… and the kunai wasn't _in_ his throat, as his throat was slashed….

Thank you everyone for your reviews! I was so happy when I got more than 10 of them, it made me feel giggly..XD;

And thank you dragonxpanda for taking the time to go over the chapter!

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"What guarantee do we have you aren't here for Shukaku?" Uchiha Sasuke growled low in his throat as Chouji maneuvered the Kazekage behind Sakura, and Ino behind Shikamaru.

The dark figure at the door did not move or make a sound. He stood there, with seemingly sad eyes before rustling was heard. Immediately the others were on guard, Kunai and Shuriken propped and ready to fly at the sign of hostility. No such thing happened as the figure took out a slip of paper and flung it at them.

The paper landed, top side right before Sasuke. There, instead of a letter or note was in fact a picture. There was his mother, his father and himself celebrating his birthday, his 10th birthday. And there, beside Sasuke in that photo… was…

"Itachi-nii…"

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Yondaime sat with Obito and Kakashi in a separate part of the cave they had found. Neither said a word, each was absorbed in their own worlds, frowning in worry. Rin had been working for hours now; she had not come out either for a report.

_Why am I so affected by whether or not Naruto lives?_ The Blond haired Hokage asked himself over and over, staring unseeingly into the fire. _He's so suspicious, who exactly is he? His story is built on lies, bad ones at that. And yet I am unable to see through them. No one, not even Kakashi had the type of power Naruto has when Kakashi was that age, and even now he doesn't. Its like Naruto is older, wiser somehow… admittedly there are plenty of shinobi children like him, but he... he's… different. I don't understand. _Arashi could not make heads or tails of it, emotionally he felt conflicted and he couldn't place why.

One thing was for sure however, when they got back to Konoha, injuries or not Yondaime was going to interrogate Naruto personally. He would find the truth in the lies. And god help him if Naruto was false…

"You look like someone just died." All three brooding males jumped, completely startled. Obito was the first to speak.

"Is he okay? Rin was going on; you were in there for so long!" Rin looked amused.

"Yeah, your point? He had a lot of injuries. Your lucky too, he's not in immediate danger of dying, his natural healing ability has finally kicked in and he's in stable condition. Sensei, the mission is over, correct?" Yondaime nodded, knowing full well from experience that Rin was not to be trifled with when in her 'doctor' mode.

"Then I request we spend a few days here until it's safe for Naruto to travel, he may be stable, but the trip back could kill him." Yondaime merely nodded, not saying a word, and he hoped he wouldn't have too. Unfortunately, Kakashi was also his student.

"Who is Akira?" now that Naruto's condition was confirmed, Kakashi was already plunging into other matters and concerns.

"I don't know. Someone who is very powerful, at least on par with me, if not better." Yondaime admitted. He had felt inferior to that red haired man; in fact, he was surprised to how well Naruto did against him. He was also in awe of how fast the man moved and did Jutsus, he hadn't even seen him use the replacement technique.

"Better?" their eyes were wide.

"Aa…" He sighed, looking at the entrance of the cave they were in. best not sugar coat anything, if would bite them back in the ass later.

"I didn't see him move, he was so fast, like he left behind an impression of himself when he moved."

"Could it have been Genjutsu?" Arashi sighed.

"It most likely was… but I didn't eve see him cast anything… and the fact that Naruto was able to fight him almost as an equal…" the other tree started at that. They hadn't heard about how Naruto had fought. They knew he was good, but not that good… and at such a young age… it made Kakashi and Obito bristle at the thought.

"I don't think Naruto is who he appears to be." Yondaime said finally, earning stunned nods from his original students.

"We'll stay here until he tells us… everything." He said it in such a menacing tone, so cold and unnerving that it made the others shudder. The Inner Hokage in him had come out, and it wasn't satisfied.

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They were wary of the elder Uchiha, after all, he was an S-class missing nin. And he still wore the Akatsuki robes. However, he had proved himself and had sealed Shukaku away properly; this was confirmed by Ino and Gaara, and later by Kakashi who had arrived late, as usual.

Itachi was now bound, with Iruka and Kakashi as guards while Ino was recovering from repeated uses of her ability to enter ones mind and see their memories (or in this case, talk with demons). Shikamaru was with Sasuke and Sakura, discussing certain things, Chouji was with Gaara, getting prepared. Said Kazekage came out in his former red and brown robes he had used back when he was 14.

"Uchiha-san, Haruno-san. I have enough chakra to get us there, but I'll need to rest before heading back." He told them. Sakura and Sasuke nodded. Shikamaru muttered under his breath as they moved to Gaara's side.

"Just don't forget…..tch.." Sasuke merely smirked at the Nara, grasping his hand in a farewell shake.

"We won't…"

"Hatake-san, where do you think Naruto is now?"

"Go back 17 years. Do you know the west pass into Rice country? Land somewhere over there if you can, I remember having a blond kid on our team for a mission there, I think it might be Naruto." It was true, over the last little while Kakashi had been having strange flashbacks to when he was 13, before Obito had died. Gaara gave him a twitch in response.

"It would help if I had an exact date…" the Kasekage muttered angrily at the Copy-nin, earning that eye smile of his.

"October 23rd, does that help?" Kakashi giggled at Gaara's expression, for it mirrored Narutos.

"Man... that must mean Naruto has something like… 2 months to get conceived…." Sasuke commented lightly.

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, giving him a 'soft' punch. He smirked at her, rubbing the sore spot on his arm.

"We should get going, now." Gaara spoke up, he was smiling however. It wasn't everyday that one could time travel, they were lucky however. When Gaara had heard about what Naruto did, he had stayed up every night (not like he slept anyways) and studied like crazy to master the foreign and strange hand seals.

Sakura and Sasuke griped his arms rightly as he lifted one hand in front of him and started to rapidly form seals, feeling a steady pour of chakra from Shukaku much like Kyuubi would supply to Naruto. For a moment, Gaara couldn't believe the shere amount. Before he knew it, he was surrounded in a sphere of yellow chakra, and then he, the Uchiha, and the Haruno were gone.

"That's it then?"

"Aa…" Iruka sighed, his eyes lingering on the place where they had been. Itachi was oddly silent, not saying a word. Chouji too was looking.

"When will they be back?"

"Most like Gaara will come back first, who knows with Team 7 though?" Chouji nodded at Iruka's words, who knows?

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"It's night time already…" Obito spoke out, knowing full well no one would reply, as he was taking this shift of night watch alone. Kakashi and Yondaime were blissfully asleep.

They were doing nothing essentially, just waiting for Naruto to even wake up. Arashi-sensei had sent an eagle with a letter to Sandaime-sama to take over Hokage duties until Yondaime was able to get back. They could have sent for a medic team, but Yondaime had told them he wanted answers from Naruto first.

Obito sighed. If only he could activate them... then the clan would accept him. He felt the turmoil in his mind but made no effort to stop his silly thoughts. It was nights like these that they caught up to him.

Even if the red eyes did have any black tomes in them, it wouldn't matter because he would have at least activated them. Already little 4 year old Uchiha Itachi was showing promise and signs of being able to activate it. Give him another 4 years. It burned Obito up inside.

He sighed, there was nothing he could do, and it was as if he was defected… Even Naruto's teammate, Sasuke was it? A bastard son and yet he had the sharingan… maybe fate just didn't like him? What had he done to piss the gods off? Why was he so… so… handicapped?

"Depression leads to hatred. Hatred leads to darkness. Darkness leads to pain, and suffering. That kind of pain... will eventually consume you. Suicide isn't the way to go."

Obito jumped kunai in hand ready to fire. But there was no one in front of him, or was there? He searched around; if he had Sharingan... he could have seen the chakra signatures…Suddenly a figure swept into the dim light given by the fire. Before him stood a young man, maybe a few years older than himself; this person wore a black cloak that obscured his body and blended with the shadows. He had long black bangs with shorter hair at the back, like a reverse mullet. But that's not what drew Obito's eyes.

It was the 3 tome red sharingan reflected back at him. The man made no move when Yondaime and Kakashi woke up, followed shortly by Rin. They all grabbed for their weapons. The blond Hokage was the one who took control of the situation.

"Who are you?" so much for control. The Uchiha, for that was who he must be, looked at him, rather he deadpanned him. Arashi had only sensed the chakra signature of a strange person when they had entered the mouth of the cave. But the cave entrance was pitch black. Genjutsu? No… it was just dark out.

"Who are you?" he asked again, more calmly, slipping into his role again. Far too many strange coincidences and occurrences surrounded them and he felt oddly misplaced. He watched as another figure, shorter with a hood over their head appeared before them, blocking the other side of the cave entrance. They were on alert now, even more than ever.

"I won't ask again." Arashi told them in a menacing growl, reading his special Kunai. The hooded figure looked at his Uchiha companion. Yondaime prided himself in being able to recognize every Uchiha, and found himself lacking a name to an unfamiliar face.

The Hooded figure took off their hood, revealing… pink hair? Aquamarine eyes that caught the men's breath in their throats. She was very beautiful. The Sharingan user deactivated his eyes and revealed smooth and deep obsidian, but other than that made no further move.

"You missed the Perfect Storm." Rin turned around and gasped. A bandaged Naruto was leaning heavily against the cave wall, heaving and puffing from the exertion of getting up.

"You shouldn't be moving!" she hissed at him, but Naruto wasn't even paying attention. He was locked in with the pink haired women's eyes, before collapsing. The woman moved forward towards Naruto, but was stopped by Yondaime's imposing figure.

"Please, I am a healer, I can help him." She explained, never taking her eyes off the fallen child. Rin was holding Naruto, but was focused on Pink Hair.

"Prove it." The woman shrugged, forming together her hands in seals and creating an eerie green glow around her hands. Yondaime still shook his head; letting strangers help Naruto just didn't seem right. First they had come, uninvited; had silently refused to tell them their names, and seemed to be willing to help them? Way to suspicious in Yondaime's mind. Unfortunately, while he had been thinking, miss pink hair had already moved around him, and was tending to the collapsed Naruto.

"He has a foreign substance in his system that prohibits Naruto's natural bloodline ability to heal at an accelerated rate. No doubt it is long lasting. Has he engaged in battle recently?"

"Hai-"

"How the hell do you know Naruto?" Obito snarled, not once taking his eyes off the other stranger, who had yet to move. Yondaime was torn, he had no clue what was going on, and he felt very inadequate on how to handle the situation.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke. She is Haruno Sakura." Sasuke finally spoke, his voice dark and melodious, instantly making Rin blush. Arashi blinked. Wait... Sasuke and Sakura…

"_Hmm..? my siblings are not related to me my blood. Sasuke is a Sharingan user and Sakura is a medical specialist."…_

"Naruto's team-mates? I thought you were in earth country?" Kakashi eyed them, unsure of what to make of this. Sasuke twitched.

"Is it true you're a bastard?" Obito asked, ignoring Rin's scandalized 'Obito!' Sasuke twitched even more violently before.

"Lies, built to give Naruto time to breathe and throw you off his tail. I will explain momentarily." He held up a placate hand before them, and warded off more questions.

"Fine, but I don't trust you." Sasuke shrugged, stepping forward when Obito and Kakashi relinquished their weapons. He sat down by the fire, and waited. Rin was keeping an eye on Sakura, and the boys kept an eye on Sasuke, while Yondaime watched them both. Mostly though, Rin wasn't watching for signs of assignation from Sakura, but rather her incredible ability to use medic techniques, she was just awesome.

Finally, after an hour Sakura sighed. "He's fine now, his bloodline will take care of the rest." She half lied, Demon healing wasn't a bloodline suitable for a human, but for Naruto it worked out to pass as a bloodline limit since Kyuubi was sealed inside of him.

"Do you know who attacked him?"

"A man with red hair and black eyes, tall, and very fast." Yondaime said offhandedly, the duo merely sighed.

"Just making sure, Naruto already told us Akira attacked."

"What, when?" Obito asked the pink haired beauty.

"Akira is the Perfect Storm, silly." Sakura reprimanded Obito gently, smiling at him. Obito went scarlet.

"Since Naruto isn't awake… I think I'll have you answer my questions." Arashi's voice was cold and his eyes hard. He wanted answers. No more lies.

"We'll answer everything, no matter how difficult or unbelieving they are."

"Who is Naruto?" he asked. Sasuke sighed.

"That's too vague a question, and we can't answer it in all one sitting. Start with some basics, and we'll go from there."

"What is Naruto's full name?" Kakashi asked, earning a glare from his sensei. Truth be told, having no clan name bugged the white haired ninja. Sasuke smirked and Sakura chuckled.

"Kazame Uzumaki Naruto." Arashi's breath caught in his throat. He was the only living Kazame...

"What?"

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HAHAHAHA! Hahah so many evil cliffhangers in a row, don't you hate being kept on the edge of your seats? Actually, it wasn't intended for me to bring Sasuke and Sakura back so quickly... but meh.


	7. 07 Mushy Moments

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies

XTakaX27 – LOL! Calm down there sparky XD; you don't have to wait long; I was going to be nice and update day after anyways.

Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiobie – There will be no parings between major characters, aside from Yondaime and the OC character Himeno. I _might_ do something crazy with Kakashi and Anko. Lol, but that won't be a pairing….:p

Zed of Vesper – lol, I did indeed cliffy the character, oh well. I'm not sure on there being a rule on answering a few reviews before the actual chapter starts, if you can find me the actual place where it says that, then for sure I'll stop answering them before the chapter starts.

Thank you everyone for reviewing! And thank you so much Dragonxpanda for taking the time to go through the chapter! I wouldn't have caught those mistakes :p

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"What is Naruto's full name?" Kakashi asked, earning a glare from his sensei. Truth be told, having no clan name bugged the white haired ninja. Sasuke smirked and Sakura chuckled.

"Kazame Uzumaki Naruto." Arashi's breath caught in his throat. He was the only living Kazame...

"What?" Arashi was starting to hyperventilate. Kazame.. Uzumaki? Himeno had the name Uzumaki, but surely... no… what was going on?

"Naruto is 16… if that helps any…."

"Impossible! I would have known if he was wearing a genjutsu!" Rin cried out, glaring at them angrily. Sakura merely sighed.

"That's because-"

"Lets us tell you a story…" Sasuke spoke up, directing heated tension away from Sakura and onto himself. "It's about a kid named Uzumaki Nartuo." Yondaime was calm enough to nod at them to continue, but other than that didn't trust himself to speak. Sasuke began speaking in a low voice, causing everyone to lean in closely to listen.

"Uzumaki Naruto... the son of Kazame Arashi, Yondaime Hokage and a young woman named Uzumaki Himeno... Carrier of probably the biggest burden life can grant, he wasn't thought of a hero… rather… a monster…" he said softly, his hands shaking with repressed rage. Rage at whom Arashi and his team didn't know.

Sasuke didn't go too much into detail, only in parts that were of major significance. He skipped over Naruto's childhood with a few sentences and moved onto his Ninja career. From Zabuza to Gaara to Orochimaru to Takako and Akira. And of course, he briefly explained the time traveling jutsu, how only two people could do it, and their first experience with it.

For the better part of the night, they stayed up, listening to Sasuke and Sakura explain just who Naruto was. They explained Kyuubi, they explained what Kyuubi's intentions had been when it would first attack Konoha. They explained how Yondaime died sealing Kyuubi inside of Naruto, his mother dieing in childbirth. They told them of the unfairness Naruto had to face in life because of something he was unable to control.

When Sasuke couldn't speak anymore, Sakura took up the tale, spinning her words of the chuunin exam, and how Naruto fought, not for himself, but for the village that hated him. She told them of how hard he fought even afterwards to find a new Hokage, to gain Tsunade's trust.

Arashi sat there staring into space, unseeing, but seeing everything all the same. They way the explained things, it just… he just couldn't grasp it. His entire world was turned upside down. He couldn't help but thing many wrongs he had done to Naruto, suspecting him of being a spy, sealing Kyuubi into him… Yondaime shuddered.

Dawn was approaching now; the duo had been talking for hours, as there was a lot to cover. They had also explained the story behind their Sensei, Kakashi, and how Obito and Rin would also die. The air of the small camp was a dreary one as the sun touched the sky.

"Who is Naruto? Well… that's for your interpretation." Sasuke finished, standing up and stretching. No one had moved since they had begun their story. Sakura also stood.

"We have to leave now, as we were warned not to stay by our friend. We'll linger around; tell Naruto when he wakes up, not to leave without us." Arashi snapped out of his funk.

"What do you mean?"

"Naruto has some plan or another, I'm sure. Me and Sasuke are actually going to do some research on our enemies, it may take us awhile, since we have to avoid certain people from finding us, so tell Naruto that he's to wait for us before returning back to our time, okay?" Sakura explained lightly, putting her hood over her face again.

"Matte! Sasuke… how... how do you activate the Sharingan?" Obito asked desperately. Sasuke turned around and looked at him with a small smile on his face.

"Ask Naruto." Came his vague reply before they put their hands together and vanished in a puff of smoke. Obito blinked. Why ask Naruto? Obito sighed. He didn't want to die, Rin didn't either, and neither did Yondaime. Kakashi was in a daze, knowing his best friend… no.. his entire team, Sensei and all was going to die in 11 months…. They were going to leave him behind… like his mother… and his father.

"Well don't you look like a happy bunch." Someone groaned to their left. Rin turned to see the awakening Naruto, little Naruto that was. They stared at him, and if wanting him to laugh at them and tell them it was a joke. No such luck.

"I take it Sakura and Sasuke told you?" he sighed heavily. "I didn't want them too, but Akira, that asshole has been practically spelling it out for Yondaime…" he muttered, working out the kinks in his body. Amazingly, there was no sign of injury aside from his ripped and torn clothing.

Yondaimne winced as Naruto called him by his title, a part of him had been wishing for a 'otousan.' He sighed; this did not go unnoticed by Naruto. The miniature blond frowned, wishing that he could take back what Sakura and Sasuke had said, for they just made it inevitably more difficult... or easier? He couldn't decide.

"Naruto-kun… ano… what... do you actually look like?" Rin asked calmly, pushing aside her own fears and worries and concentrating on the moment. Naruto blinked and smirked.

"Like chichi only sexier." He explained. Yondaime twitched.

"You are so NOT sexier than me!" Arashi glared, momentarily forgetting who he was talking to. Naruto grinned.

"You don't have handsome whiskers like I do, ergo, I am more handsome than you." He shot back with a sly smirk. Rin giggled. The easy banter between Yondaime and his new... old… soon to be son chased away the darkness that had momentarily clouded over them.

"Maaaa… I guess I'll prove it then." He snickered, forming a hand seal. "Oni kai!" he called out. At first, nothing happened, and then his clothing puffed up in smoke, ending up far larger than his small 6 year old body. They blinked and watched with wide eyes as his body started to grow as if they were watching the ageing process on high speed. In five minutes there sat a teenaged Naruto.

Arashi stared at Naruto, not quite believing his eyes. It was like looking into a mirror, except his eyes were a lighter shade of blue and the whiskers… and his skin was a bit more tanned than his. But there rest was the same. He was aware that Naruto was wearing Shodaime's necklace, and the dark turquoise just added to his image.

Black pants, black shirt and a brown chuunin vest, blond hair, startling sky blue eyes, twinkling green pendant, tanned skin, whiskers. Arashi grumbled to himself. He was sometimes... too good looking for his own good, just look at Naruto!

"Maaan…. How the hell am I supposed to be cool, and if my kid looks better than me?" Naruto merely laughed at him. Rin was blushing like crazy; Kakashi and Obito were also staring.

"Gee... I'm used to attention, but this is new to me." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. Even his actions were the same as Yondaimes. Arashi looked at him again, his face softening as he realized something. This was his son. His son, no one else's. true, technically he hadn't been born yet, but… he was proud. Realizing this sent a warm flare in Yondaime's heart and he smiled.

"You're taking this better than I thought you all would. Mind you, my plan wasn't to tell you at all…"

"What was your original plan then, musuko?" he asked, the last word said softly, and for Naruto's ears only. Naruto felt tears coming; did Yondaime just call him 'son'? he coughed to clear away how tight his throat felt.

"Ahh…. Well I was only going to give you an alternate means of sealing Kyuubi inside of me, so that you wouldn't lose your soul to the Shinigami… but... when I was using the time jutsu, Akira latched onto me and since I couldn't stop it, that's how he ended up coming back.

"I thought about just finding him and going back to the present. But 1) that puts me under his eye, and regrettably makes it easier for him to capture me. And 2) you guys wouldn't exactly let me leave, and I had already been spotted too. So I had to change my plans. I'll tell you know, I don't intent on letting any of you die, because… that just wouldn't be fair now would it?" Naruto smiled at them, they were staring up at him with wide eyes.

"What are you going to do then, Naruto-kun?" Rin asked hesitantly. The blond merely smiled.

"Simple, when you're supposed to die, I will prevent it. Although… it would be hard to image a Kakashi without a sharingan-"

"Naruto! How do you activate the sharingan?" Obito suddenly blurted, looking mad with the desperate need to activate his bloodline. Naruto smiled softly at him.

"Obito… has someone close to you ever died?" He asked calmly, standing up and putting his hands in his pockets, letting the sun cast a halo around his head, staring down at them.

"Close to me...? no…."

"Sasuke activate his Sharingan because we were going to die. It wasn't because he wanted to do it, or because he wanted to live… he fought his hardest because he didn't want me to die, and he didn't want to live without me, since I am his beloved friend and brother. There are different ways to fight, for greed, for glory. You can fight for what's right, or your village. But the sharingan is activated by raw need; the need to protect those who are precious to you, to stand up and refused to let those people get hurt or die.

"Only then can you fight with everything you have. Because when you're fighting with all that's in your heart, everything slows down and becomes clearer. Trust me on this. You can't force it to activate, all you can do is try you're hardest with everything you are to protect your precious people." Naruto smiled softly once more down at them.

His speech was deep and impacting, Yondaime whipped a tear from his eye, realizing that that wonderful trait of Himeno's, the ability to encourage and inspire definitely came from her, and a bit from him.

"Um... ano... Can I... Speak to my Otou… alone for a moment, guys and lady?" Naruto asked shyly. Dazed, but elated and pumped from Naruto speech, the other 3 left through the cave entrance and into the forest to look for breakfast while Naruto and Yondaime stayed behind.

Naruto didn't look at Arashi for what seemed like a long time, just gazing out at the sky. Arashi stood up and marvelled at how Naruto was almost his height. He too gazed out at the sky, not saying anything.

"Gomen nasai…" Naruto said softly. Yondaime jumped, turning in shock at Naruto.

"What? Why are you apologizing?" he asked in a stunned voice.

"I'm sorry… for coming here and being a burden, for throwing you out of your normal rule of life and into a chaotic line. And… I'm sorry for changing things, even though I know it's wrong, I can't help but try and change what happens. I-"

"After hearing what I've heard, you have ever right to be selfish, musuko…" Arashi said softly, wrapping his arms around his son's shoulders and hugging him. He noticed how Naruto stiffened, and understood the reasons why, eventually the younger blond relaxed. The Hokage noticed something wet on his shoulder, taking a moment to understand that the 16 year olds shaking body was not due to cold, but from suppressed sadness. The tears were only now starting to come.

He could only imagine what Naruto had been through, and he supposed that there was a lot of emotional trauma the kid had been through. Although the thought of being a father frightened him, he also was thrilled. In this world, anything was possible. Meeting your son from the future was one of them.

Arashi smiled, not letting go of his Naruto. It was hard to believe, and he was still wrapping his mind around it, but he didn't think ill of Naruto anymore, it was hard to, the sunny blond and that smile it was impossible to.

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"Are you sure we did the right thing, Sakura?" Sasuke asked looking in the direction of Rice country, and where Naruto was. Sakura smiled.

"We have our families, now it's time for Naruto to find his. Think of it like this, if everything works out, he'll annoy you less." Sasuke's eye twitched, and he smirked evilly.

"Then we shall do everything in our power to make it so!"

"Alright… That's enough sake for you." She scolded, giggling at Sasuke's drunken blush.

"I swear to drunk I'm not god!" she sighed at him.

"Hopeless…. Then again... I'm glad Naruto isn't here to get drunk with you…" she and Sasuke and Naruto had had their first taste at drinking alcohol a month into their leave from Konoha. Sasuke and Naruto had ended up trashing the place they were in, and were officially kicked out of that village.

Ever since then, any moment they could spare they were either a) drunk or b) training. She supposed they really were turning into mini Sannins… and with that thought in mind; she burst into cackles, which frightened the tipsy Uchiha into scuttling away from her in his seat.

"Ne.. Sasuke-kun... do you think it'll work?" she asked after awhile. Sasuke turned to her frowning.

"We can only hope so..." he muttered softly under his breath, staring into his sake cup and thinking about what they had planned.

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Rin was about to head back to the cave when she stopped. She saw, just ahead to blond's wrapped in an embrace. She couldn't help it as she giggled.

"What's so funny?" Came a voice to her left. Rin merely giggled again and pointed.

"Eeeewww.." Obito cried, but he was grinning. Kakashi came up to Rin's right and all three watched the emotional display. Suddenly Rin jumped, and began to frantically search for something on her person. Eventually she found it, a small camera. Obito and Kakashi were wearing identical evil grins.

"Shall we?" they giggled evilly and started to take pictures of the two hugging blonds.

Meanwhile, Naruto's head suddenly poked up and looked around. He seemed… pale in fear.

"Naruto? Naruto what's wrong?" Arashi asked, searching around with him. Naruto suddenly glared.

"Impending doom, that's what." But he said it in a pout like voice. Arashi blinked, completely confused.

"Eh?"

"DOOM! Impending doom!" Naruto's flapped his arms goofily to emphasize his point.

"Doom? What kind of doom?"

"Doom as in… I think we're being watched by a fan girl and two fan boys taking blackmailing pictures of us!" Yondaime stood there for a moment, absorbing this information, suddenly, he grew stiff.

"RIIIN! OOOBITO KAKASHI! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!" he yelled, flying out of the cave entrance and into the bushes.

"Crap! Scatter, scatter!" Rin's voice could be heard, ordering her two accomplices away. But too little avail as Yondaime and Naruto caught up to them and began to tickle them mercilessly. Unfortunately, Kakashi being the coolest one of the group managed to get away with the pictures while Yondaime and Naruto were busy trying to pry information out of Rin and Obito.

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There, no cliff-hanger in this chapter…. At least not a biggie. Next Chapter: watch out for spandex, Kakashi and many more funnies! (oh gods, I'm trying to picture how it'll go and I keep laughing….)


	8. 08 Little Green Spandex

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies.

Dragonfaeriex – Never said he wasn't going to still be sealed……

Ivory Black aka Torri-Chiob... – sorry, this story is remaining pairingless...:p

Darkflame – If I did... it wasn't intentional… o.O

Thank you everyone for reviewing, and as always I really look forward to them! Special thanks to Dragonxpanda for taking time out of their schedule to beta my chapters! so much love for you!

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When Team Hokage walked back through the gates of Konoha, it was with a sigh of relief. Naruto was once again in his younger form, deciding that since he had already been seen in it, it was his best bet to continue the charade. The others were just exhausted, but for different reasons.

"So, who's up for some ramen?" Yondaime asked, looking fondly down at his 'son.' They had spent an awfully long time talking and sparring. He had been pleasantly surprised at how much Naruto could keep up when in his full form, and that was when he was fighting playfully. Frankly, it awed him and made him extremely proud.

"I have to go to the-" Rin started to say but was interrupted by a shrill, far away voice.

"KAKASHI! MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" shouted someone as a cloud of dust approached them from a far away an extraordinary high speed. Kakashi paled considerably as if he was facing death itself.

"No… no I… it… c-can't be…" the great white haired genius was trembling with horror and barely concealed fear.

"OH KAKASHI!" it came again, much closer than before. Obito and Rin swiftly ran for it.

"ican'treallyhaveramen,newdietBYE!" Yondaime and Kakashi both fled for it, running for their lives, leaving Naruto left to deal with the approaching… madness. Said blond was having a hard time containing the twitches of his eyes as his team left him to deal with this. Within a second of their departure, he was facing a young man, no, a kid that looked like Lee's twin brother. Decided to have a bit of revenge on his team for abandoning him, Naruto greeted this strange fellow warmly.

"Hi! You're Maito Gai, right?" He exclaimed, taking out a hand and having Gai shake it exuberantly.

"I see Kakashi has been talking about me! Oh his YOUTHFUL FLAMES BURN SO BRIGHTLY! IF ONLY I COULD MAKE MINE SO BRIGHT! I KNOW! I WILL RUN 1000 LAPS AROUND KONOHA!"

"er… right. I'm Naruto, nice to meet you!" Naruto smiled a dazzling smile, only to have Gai yell at him again.

"I SEE YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN BRIGHTLY AS WELL! IT MAKES ME CRY IN JOY!" Gai proclaimed. Naruto forcibly refrained from running, ignoring Kyuubi's snickers inside his mind.

"You betcha! Hey, you wanna spar or something? Do you have any more of those suits?" he asked innocently, mentally cackling at the prospect of what he was going to do to Kakashi, and perhaps Obito.

"You… you actually... want one?" Naruto nodded, and Gai grew quite tearful, pulling the mentally traumatised blond into a bone crushing hug. Naruto took this as test of patients.

"And I'm _sure_ Kakashi would love one as well! But he might need a bit of prompting, but I have a plan. Do you know how to do Kage Bunshin no jutsu? So like… here's what you're gunna do...…." Naruto started to outline and whisper to the highly intrigued blue beast of Konoha, refraining all the while from cackling evilly.

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"Rin… I don't get it, what am I doing wrong? Does Himeno honestly hate me?" Arashi groaned out pathetically as Rin chuckled, applying some cool cream to his reddened face to get rid of that awful hand print on his right cheek.

"I don't know Sensei, you've been trained by the Sanin Jiraiya, who is like… a professional pervert, and from the way I've heard it, it does seem like you were peeking on her in the baths. It's no surprise she thought the same thing and that she slapped you for it." Rin explained to the pouting Hokage.

"But she never gives me a straight answer!"

"True, but she hasn't said 'no' has she? There's still hope. Maybe she comes from a highly traditional family and is waiting for you to get a clue." She mused out loud while cleaning her supplies up and tidying the hospital room.

"Traditional?" Rin ignored the utterly stupid look on her sensei's face.

"Yeah, like maybe she's waiting for you to formally ask her father for the right to court her." Rin flipped her hand airily. Yondaime on the other hand, looked like he'd been hit with the proverbial reality stick.

"Damnit! I am SUCH an idiot!" Arashi smacked himself, which actually ended up hurting, and Rin laughed lightly at him.

"Do you want to know what to say?" Yondaime was instantly on his knees.

"Oh yes, oh yes _puhleeeease!_" Rin mentally cackled, who knew manipulating her sensei could be so easy, and so much fun? Oh, the puppy dog look he was giving her was absolutely priceless. She was so using this as blackmail material for later.

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"Oooobiiiitooooo….." a zombified hand grasped the poor unsuspecting teen on the shoulder, earning a girlish shriek from the Uchiha.

"Kakashi! Don't _do_ that!" Obito flapped his hands at the white haired boy before realizing the state his best friend was in. The boy was deathly pale and clammy to the touch. He was shivering as if he was ill and his eyes had a haunted look about them.

"Kakashi? Kakashi, what happened? What's wrong?" Obito asked, gripping his friend's shoulders.

"I… It… horrifying..." Kakashi wasn't even looking at him, but beyond him as if reliving some traumatising event.

"What was?" Obito pressed, looking genuinely concerned. Kakashi suddenly looked right at him with those grey-black eyes wide and frightened.

"Run." He said clearly, before returning to his broken speech from before.

"S…ssss…so... terrifying… run... while you-"

"KAKASH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" a chorus of voices called out, followed by blurs of green as a mob suddenly appeared. Kakashi and Obito froze, turning around with disturbed gazes.

"Just put it on!" One said.

"IT"LL MAKE YOUR PASSIONATE FLAMES OF YOUTH BURN EVEN BRIGHTER!" and thus the horror began with 100 something spandex covered, thick eyebrows and beady eyed Gais, all holding an extra green spandex green suit for the Ninja.

Kakashi was starting to twitch violently, taking several steps backwards with Obito who was as pale as a sheet, both wearing equally shell-shocked expressions. And thus the chase began as the clones attacked.

Somehwere, Elsewhere, Naruto was sitting at a ramen stand laughing away as he ate his favourite meal, telling Rin about the evil things he had done to prank the boys. Rin was red faced because she had been giggling the last 5 minutes none stop.

"Oh man… for the stuff that _they_ pull, they so deserve it." Naruto nodded, smirking into his bowl of soup. When Naruto was finished, he turned to Rin, asking something that had bothered him when Rin had come back from talking with his father.

"Tell me, about the official courting process."

"That's hard to say really, because it depends on the couple right, and their families. Since Sensei is the Hokage, I have no doubt that Himeno-chan's father will say yes immediately. And Himeno-chan really does like sensei, I asked her once."

"She speaks?" Naruto asked with wide eyes. "I thought she was mute." Rin grinned at him

"She isn't, she's just a shy lady. Anyways, they both like each other, so after the first few official dates, they'll get married." Naruto spat out his water.

"WHAT? That soon?" He gaped at her, whereas Rin merely laughed.

"Yeah, they really like each other, have for like years actually, ever since Himeno-chan's family moved here 6 years ago, But Himeno was probably trying to ignore Yondaime-sama's advances because she was the traditional type, or her father ordered her to. Don't worry so much." She smiled at him, but frowned when she saw him start to brood over it.

"I really hope your right…. Because there are so many factors now... that could prevent it from happening..." Naruto whispered softly, watching as a squad of Gais passed, chasing Obito. This got him roaring with laugher, and had set Rin off into her giggles again. After whipping her tears, Rin got up to leave, turning around to give Naruto one last word, accompanied by an evil smirk.

"Oh, and Naruto-kun? You look sexy in spandex." Naruto sputtered and choked on his water, his face turning beat red… though from the compliment or the choking, who knew?

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By the end of the day, no one had seen hide or hair from Obito and Kakashi, but there were rumours, oh yes, there were rumours. Hell, people even got pictures of, what was now being termed the 'Spandex Incident' by the villagers, and some were even selling the pictures under the table, after all, it was highly good blackmailing material for other Ninjas.

The Uchiha and the genius had been forced into green spandex suits, exactly like Gai's, but that's not what made it so terrible, no, it was the fact that Gai had dyed Kakashi's hair black and hot glued thick black 'eyebrows' onto the boys, that's what made it so horrible. How on earth Gai managed that however, is beyond the minds of many. Some say, other more powerful Ninja's like Sandaime, or a Nara must have conveniently given a 'helping hand.'

Another person on team Hokage that went missing was the Hokage himself. Eversince Rin had told him what to do, he'd been entirely absent the entire day. But Rin assured everyone that he was fine, while she and Naruto kept the secret between themselves. No need to involve people into Arashi-sensei's love life.

Rin and Naruto, due to the fact that they had not been in contact with Obito and Kakashi, were completely unaware of what the Duo was planning in retaliation to the Gai prank.

"I dunno… I mean its Rin, she'll like murder us. Plus, Naruto is like… weird, he'll either severely main us or laugh it off. I don't think it's such a good plan Kakashi…" Obito ignored the radiating killer intent coming off the genius as she crouched in the bushes outside of Rin's home. Kakashi twitched.

"It'll work.. it has to… I will not sit idly by and be made a mockery of!" Obito raised an eyebrow at the boy's dramatic speech.

"Is that so? Well dying his hair florescent pink and Rin's a platinum blond as well as exchanging all their clothing for clashing colors of spandex suits isn't going overboard at all…"

"LOOK AT MY EYEBROWS! LOOK AT MY HAIR! MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!" Kakashi was determined, and he glared at Obito, daring at him to contradict him. Obito just sighed, and Kakashi's eyes curved upwards in a smile.

"Good. I'll take Naruto's room; you go for Rin's." Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the weary Uchiha alone.

"God I hope I'm killed in my sleep before tomorrow…."

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That morning, several people were woken by the deranged screaming of certain individuals as they woke up to find the sorry state of their wardrobes and hair. So when Kakashi and Obito met up with their team at the bridge, they tried to act surprised at Rin's appearance.

Rin was now a blond, a splotchy blond, wearing a yellow spandex shirt and lose black pants that she must have borrowed off someone. She was glaring heatedly at Kakashi and Obito, with a glare that promised a merciless and savage murder.

Yondaime was also at the meeting point, but was oblivious to his surroundings as he kept sighing dreamily looking up at the skin with a broad smile on his face, completely out of it. Not even Rin's poisonous glare got through to him.

Obito turned to Kakashi and perked an eyebrow, asking silently 'where's Naruto?' the Genius responded with a different look and a shrug that clearly said he didn't know. They stood around some more, growing fidgety when Rin wouldn't even move from her spot, just glaring menacingly, not even showing any amusement to the fact that both Obito and Kakashi were now… Gai clones.

They were waiting for yet another half an hour before Naruto finally made his entrance. One minute he wasn't there, the next he was, standing on the railing. They were all blinded by the most unusual sight ever. There was a rainbow haired teen wearing every color imaginable in the form of a Spandex suit, it looked like it was patched together.

Kakashi's eyes widened, as this response to their prank had been completely unintended, but Naruto just strike the 'good guy' pose and flashed his teeth at them.

"YO! Sorry I'm late.." and indeed he was late, by 3 hours, which was half an hour later than the 2 and a half hour late Obito and Kakashi.

"SENSEIII! What are we doing today? He asked, hyperly at that. In fact, Naruto was acting (despite his body being 6 years old again) like his former 12 year old self. It, with his appearance, was horrifying, more so than a horde of Gais chasing you.

Yondaime had been snapped rudely out of his funk by the flashing brilliance of Naruto. except, that he wouldn't not call it brilliance. One thought just kept running thought his head: 'dear god, what have I created?'

"Hey! I'm not _that_ bad! I just felt like going clown today." Naruto huffed as Arashi realized he said his thought out loud. Coughing he waved his hand.

"Um... Um… Um... Um...w-well…. See.. ah… we'renotdoinganythingtodayasihaveadateBYE!" Yondaime fled before Rin could decapitate him, this also left Kakashi and Obito alone with the enraged Rin and unpredictable Naruto.

There was tense silence, and Rin started to crack her knuckles as Naruto turned around on the railing he was standing on, wearing a false cherry mask.

"Well boys! Since it's a day off, why don't we have a bit of fun? Because you know… This means war."

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I apologise if this seems a bit choppy in terms of how everything flows… I was writing it in a car… o.o;


	9. 09 Not so Innocent

**Gravity**

I deeply apologise for the extremely long wait for this chapter, school/grad and various other things had diverted my attention, so again I deeply apologise, don't kill me when I'm sleeping… give me a 5 second head start . 

This chapter is RAW, meaning unedited by my Beta, I'll put the edited version up later.

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Sakura sighed heavily as she sat down on a fallen log, whipping her bloody kunai on a spare cloth. Beside her sat Sasuke, who was leaning against the log looking ashen faced with flecks of blood adorning his face. He looked as lost as she felt.

"Are you injured?" she asked softly, not wanting to penetrate the silence too loudly.

"Iie…" he answered dully, earning another sigh from the pink haired young women. Of course he wouldn't be fine, it was a silly question. What they had done went against everything they stood for, and it had been one of the most difficult things they had ever had to do before.

"At least now… she can't come after us…" Sakura murmured, casting a sorrowful look at her Uchiha companion, who winced in afterthought at her words. Sasuke sighed, lifting his head and staring skyward.

"That's true…. But I'm worried about the kinds of effect this will have on our future… our present." Sakura looked down for a moment, frowning deeply. She wasn't required to say anything to Sasuke's comment, it simply wasn't needed. An image flashed before her, depicting a young girl, possibly eleven years old with white almost innocent green eyes and tanned skin. Sakura shuddered in remembrance. But that girl wasn't innocent; she reasoned with herself, Takako had never been _innocent_. Killing her had been surprisingly easy in this time line…

"We can't go after Akira alone, we can barely fight him as it is, and that's with Naruto's help..."

"We can't go after Orochimaru either…" Sasuke hissed bitterly, receiving a slightly amused look from Sakura. She smiled bitter sweetly.

"True, but we can go after the remaining members of Akatsuki." She stated, watching as Sasuke stopped fiddling with the hem of his shorts. They looked at each other and sighed heavily once more. Killing a child wasn't easy, but in this case, it was their only option, too many lives were at stake.

It would be better if they just hadn't… been allowed to grow up… right?

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Kakashi was fuming. He was covered in pain, flour and butter while wearing the most ridiculously out of fashioned Tutu _over_ the horrible green spandex of Maito Gai. He still didn't know how in hell his 'opponent' had managed to get it on him without his knowledge, but he grudgingly accepted the fact that he was up against the pros.

He noted with grim satisfaction that Obito was slightly worse off than he was in the looks department. The poor outcast Uchiha was covered head to toe in fish cuts while wearing a very revealing bikini. He had purple paint covering most of his body with the words 'I got Owned by a GIRL' written proudly on his back in red ink.

Both were standing there, shivering in the December air glaring at their way better off opponents. The blond and dark haired Duo was currently facing them with smug looks decorating their faces. Rin, although suffering from blue skin and half her hair being shaved off, was remarkable well off compared to her target, Obito.

But Kakashi wasn't fuming over those two; He was glaring buckets at Naruto, who was standing there in his completely unfazed glory. The Uzumaki was still wearing the ludicrous multi-color spandex suit with whip cream in his rainbow color hair, which he had also found out was a clever wig. If anything, Naruto was the least affected. And that's what irked him, he was a jounin, and he was beaten by someone who was a chuunin in rank…

"H-how? How could we have lost? How could we have been out-pranked? How is that possible! HOW?" Obito was reduced to a pile of sobbing goo on the ground next to an annoyed Kakashi. Rin and Naruto merely smirked at Obito's exaggerated dramatics.

"Well... I had a seasoned expert on my team." As Rin explained this, Naruto did a sweeping bow, clearing refraining from laughing. Obito stopped his bawling to look at Naruto as if he was god.

"Really? Will you teach me? Oh! Teach me great masterful one! I am but your humble servant!" that was the last straw between everyone as Naruto fell over laughing, Rin doubled over and even Kakashi let out the oddest sounding chuckles. Everyone forgot about the prank wars as they whipped tears from their eyes, only to got back into another fit of laughter when realizing the extent of damage that had been dealt out to each of the 4 children, well… near children.

It took them all about an hour to calm down, loose the deep blush on their faces from lack of air and sit down, utterly spent.

"Anyone wanna go to the lake?" the Uchiha chirped up eagerly. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the brunett. Apparently Obito had gone numb from the cold, because everyone was certainly still feeling it.

"Um.. sure… you got turn into an ice block and we'll hit the hot springs…" Naruto said slowly, as to puncture Obito's thick skull, surely he wasn't _that_ bad when he was that age?

"er… OKAY!" Kakashi hit his head in his hand and Rin merely sighed.

"We better clean up first before going over there, meet back in 20?" the kunoichi suggested, and after receiving 3 nods in her direction, made herself scarce. Blue so wasn't her color.

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The owner of the hot springs was hesitant to let the 4 kids in, on one hand they could pay, on the other however, one was tinged blue, one smelt like fish and another had paint flecks in his hair while the fourth was completely fine. He forced them to take showers before entering the hot springs.

Since they only had so much money on them, Rin went to the public girl's bath whereas Kakachi, Obito and Naruto went off to rent a private bath all to themselves. Yawning, the boys settled in, Naruto with a very comfortable hiss at the hot water meeting his numb appendages. It had been awhile since his last bath.

The searing heat was so comfortable and welcomed that Naruto noticed himself starting to dose away; he closed his eyes and letting his bones soak up the heat and allowed the small current lull him to sleep. It was a brief moment of happiness for him.

Kakashi and Obito managed to stay awake in the sleepy atmosphere to watch Naruto their friend and little nephew (as they liked to secretly call him) fall asleep with the most peaceful look they had ever seen on his face. They didn't want to wake him up and ruin it however, so Obito spoke softly.

"Awwww, he's so cute and time like that." Obito cooed, something in which Kakashi thought was humanly impossible for a man to do, but agreed wholeheartedly. They lapsed into silence. For awhile neither said or did anything, just absorbed themselves in their own thoughts.

Eventually Obito spoke, his voice hushed and distilled against the hallow silence that had taken over the place.

"Ne... Kakashi… do you really think… do you really think he can prevent it from happening? Do you think he can save us?" Obito turned his haunted eyes to his friend, seeking an answer that was full proof. Kakashi sighed.

"He's sensei's son… he has that… that feeling to him, ya know? Like he could tip the entire world around him…... He will, Obito, because he gave us his word. Even by telling us what will happen, things have already changed. I think he'll try…. He'll try his hardest, I'm sure." Kakashi smiled, his eyes curving upwards as indentations in his mask appeared. Obito looked over again, his eyes alight once more, and nodded while looking back at the sleeping form of the six year old version of Naruto.

"Aa…." He muttered softly, settling back down into the ledge of the bath in a more relaxed position, closeting his eyes the Uchiha looked skyward and smiled.

"Aa."

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The boy swatted away the offending hand poking his side and resumed sleeping. It was difficult however, as he heard distinct giggling coming from his side before the poking returned more viciously than before. The boy mumbled and smacked the hand away again.

"go'way sas'ke…. Nnnn… five mo'minnets." He swapped the hand again and heard someone snicker.

"I'll tell kaka-sensei…… nnnnn I'ell 'em ooo stole 'is porn…." Naruto mumbled, hearing blissful silence before peeking one eye open and looking at his attacker(s).

"faggit…" he mumbled again. "tha haircut stinks…" Naruto made to move over onto his other side, only to be met with scalding hot water instead of his uncomfortable mat.

"EEEEIIIIIIIIYA!" he shrieked, jumping out of the water like a fish and landing painfully on the concrete flooring around the bath. He groaned, realizing his skin was beet red and highly sensitive to the scratchy surface he was lying on. He looked like a cooked lobster…He fixed his gaze to the bastards that didn't wake him up earlier and became disoriented for a second before making the realization.

"KAKASHII! OOOBITOOO!"

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Rin had been enjoying a wonderful time in the bath with a fellow genin from her era named Kurenai. The girls were discussing and giggling on and off between the most recent gossips around town, even Naruto hadn't gone unnoticed. They were however, interrupted half an hour later by a ragged scream followed by the fence being broken down and 2 boys running helter-skelter for their lives.

Wait a moment, she recognized those boys! The laughing duo bolted through before their pursuer (a handsome, if a bit young, blond) came barrelling through with a pissed off expression on his face. Rin noticed that Naruto's skin was beat red, either from blushing or from the bath, she couldn't tell. However, before she could even begin to question them, all the girls realized what was going on.

There were boys, in their bath…. _In their bath!_ The following chaos was enough to make even Orochimaru appreciate its potential mayhem. The poor boys were trampled, well that was; Kakashi and Obito, for Naruto had mysteriously disappeared. Any female ninja within the vicinity also proceeded to pound the living daylights out of the poor boys (who seemed that they couldn't catch a break)

Rin chuckled and made her way to the bleeding pair and dragged them off to their bath to patch them up without worrying about the kunoichi returning for even more vengeance. She herself didn't mind, she had learned to go without some modesty when on the road with 3 other boys.

"Alright you two, what did you do _this_ time?" she asked.

"uuuunnngh….. woke him up." Obtio groaned while Kakashi nursed his bleeding nose, strange since it wasn't broken…

"He freaked out on us. 'e 'ere 'ust pokeing him." Kakashi explained thickly to an amused Rin.

"he fell asleep in the bath? And you didn't bother to prevent him or wake him up sooner, _before_ he became cooked?" she giggled at them.

"Couldn't help it, he looked so tiny and cute and… babyish..." Obito admitted, much to Rin's enjoyment. Kakashi managed to grin sheepishly in agreement.

"You guys are like… totally hopeless..." she sighed before far way there was an explosion, followed by angry yells of female voices. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito shared highly pleased looks.

"Then again, I think Naruto has worse luck with women than you two do." She grinned.

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"That's the last one…" Sakura stated softly, once again whipping her bloody Kunai off.

"Ahh…" Sasuke sighed, shivering when he glanced at the innocent expression on Hoshigaki Kisame's 7 year old face. their purpose was simple, find and kill off as many of their enemies as possible, short Orochimaru, Akira and Itachi. Deidera they couldn't find and time was running short for them. That is, according to when they planned to meet back up with Naruto.

"Sakura…" Sasuke suddenly said, earning the attention of the pink haired kunoichi.

"Sasuke?"

"I don't…. I don't ever… _ever!_ Want to kill like this again. Ever." Sakura nodded.

"Me too…" she fought the bile rising in her throat and turned to walk away as Sasuke formed hand seals toward Kisame's body.

"Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" he burned the body quickly, turning his back to it and walking briskly away, revelling in the fact that their job was done, and that they wouldn't have to do it every again.

They walked in silence for some time, no longer having to fight from gagging and having long since stopped shivering as their minds rebelled at their actions. It was done, it was over with. Sakura let out a long sigh.

"What day is it?" she asked as they took to the trees.

"December 3rd." Sasuke answered showing shock as Sakura suddenly grinned. How in hell could she be ginning?

"Guess what?" the Uchiha got slightly annoyed by her.

"What?" he snapped a bit harshly. Sakura didn't seem to notice however.

"Yondaime is getting married this day. Poor Naruto, I can imagine Yondaime-sama dragging him into the ceremony somehow…" Sasuke blinked before chuckling. Weddings, no matter who it was for, were inadvertently long and boring and with an attention span like Naruto's…. it might prove to be a disaster.

"Also… since Yondaime-sama is getting married today... that means we only have a week left." That brought Sasuke out of his wicked thoughts of Naruto collapsing and dying of boredom to look at his pink haired companion.

As if reading each bothers minds, they flew north.

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Naruto grumbled irritably as he shifted about in his Kimono. Why he had to wear one, he was really confused about, afterall… he was a boy! It didn't help that Kakashi and Obito were snickering behind his back and his father merely tsked him as he helped put the Kimono on properly.

"Stupid traditions... who in hell wears these things anyways!" Naruto cursed as the robe was forced on him by one very, very delighted Hokage.

"Oh quit it, your girlie enough as it is…" Naruto glared fiercely at his father; only to Arashi ignore it with a flippant smile.

"Bastard…" he mumbled, why was he forced to wear a kimono? It made no sense! Unfortunately he wasn't given a choice as Kakashi and Obito were shushed out of Arashi's room while he prepared himself for the wedding in… what! Wait… 10 minutes?

The boys listened to their sensei running around his room, tripping and getting ready and dressing while crashing into things. They sighed, he was truly hopeless, and it made them grin at his misfortune. Naruto was hopping from foot to foot as Obito's mother guided them to their seats to sit and wait for the wedding to proceed.

Naruto droned most of it out, only paying attention to key parts. His future mothers changing on her clothing almost 4 times nearly made him laugh. He would never have a traditional wedding, too much work for the girl he'd be marrying, no matter how stunning the _furisode, uchikaka, _and_ shiromaku_ dresses really were.

Naruto yawned half way through it, feeling unusually tired. He knew it wasn't that unusual though, it was merely caused by the strain of being in Akuma Henge for so long without relieving it for a moment, so he opted to fall asleep in his chair. After all, even if he was a 'chuunin' in rank, he still had to portray the image of a six year old, and everyone knows six year olds fall asleep easily. Naruto smiled as Obito's mother allowed him to sleep up against her; she was very nice… for an Uchiha.

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no more filler chapters! Next chapter: start of the dreaded mission! Someone looses an eye… can you guess who?


	10. 10 Dreaded Mission pt I: Liftoff

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies

Thank you everyone for your reviews as always, and special thanks for being patient! Exams are literally a week away, and I'm totally stressing out about them. However, come July there should be more frequent updates… then I go on vacation… hopefully.

flaming beauty – I don't think your crazy! ;

ArmorOfGeddon – You bring up a good point, however for the sake of my story, there is no solitary "Leader" so much as it's a… twisted form of democracy with an elected leader that is equally as powerful as the rest, hence why his death wouldn't be that 'notable'. Although, you are entirely true about the perceptions of the Akatsuki leader in the actual Manga/Anime, it just doesn't apply to this story…. Sorry ;

Edit: forgot to mention this chapter is slightly raw... I felt guilty for not putting it up sooner. I'm sorry.

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Yondaime sighed as he rubbed his temples. He stared down at the scroll open before him, tracing the intricate patterns for the highly advanced seal lying before him with his finger. Why did he have a bad feeling about this? That he would never see Naruto again? Not for awhile at least…

_**Flashback**_

"_Arashi," Sandaime gently reprimanded. "Your team is the only team available for this mission; our recourses are tight right now. They've been on plenty of missions like this…"_

-But they haven't….- _Arashi wanted to say, but bit his lip and remained silent._

"_It's a simple information gathering mission, A-rank, they should be able to handle it… Tsume, send for Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, Naruto and Rin." That was that, Sandaime had made the decision without consenting Arashi, not like Yondaime could have said anything to object either, not without raising suspicions. _

_It hadn't taken long for them to arrive, surprisingly all on time. Yondaime eyed Tsume, and all he got in response was a smirk. He snorted; no doubt she threatened Kakashi and Obito with castration if they didn't come on time._

"_Team 7, you have a mission to the boarders of Iwagakure no sato, this mission is an infiltration and espionage mission, ranked A class." Everyone noticeably stiffened, even the ever cool Kakashi. Arashi sighed, he really did not want to send them, but he relented, Naruto and his team would protect them…_

"_You are searching for any information on battle plans, amount of Ninjas, Ranks… essentially anything that could be used in war-"_

"_Ano… with all due respect, Hokage-sama… Doesn't this border on an S-rank mission?" Arashi sighed at Naruto's 'innocent' inquisition._

"_Aa, demo, we don't have the man power needed to go on this mission, you are the only free team available. In the event a team becomes available that can provide adequate assistance, we will send them out immediately to a rendezvous point in this scroll. If you don't have anything else to ask, then you're dismissed." They nodded, bowed and left, all but Naruto._

"_Ano…You wanted my mission reports from before I came here, I managed to do all of them, but some of them I couldn't remember all the details…. It's in this scroll.." Naruto explained, handing it out to Arashi who took it. When did he ask for- ooohhh… his mind made the connections and he nodded professionally, accepting the large scroll from Naruto. With that the blond kid vanished._

"_Arashi?" Yondaime looked over at Sandaime, raising an eyebrow._

"_Sarutobi?"_

"_You seem nervous…"_

"_I have every right to be… I just sent an unprepared team on an S-rank mission without backup…"_

_**End**_

Arashi groaned, putting his hands through his hair and letting out a frustrated growl. The instructions on the scroll were painfully easy to follow. In fact, it wasn't the scroll that he was frustrated over, it was the fact that he wasn't with his team, preventing the bad things from happening.

Why did he want to become Hokage again?

"Naruto… please don't let them get hurt…"

"Arashi-kun?" Yondaime looked up into the eyes of his beautiful wife, her very presence reminding him that he _should_ be enjoying his honeymoon, not fretting over his team. He smiled, pushing his worries aside; he had a son to make.

_-God that sounded wrong, Ero-sennin would have a field day with that thought.-_ Arashi thought guiltily.

_**Flashback**_

_The four of them stood at the gates, staring back at the worried sensei. Kakashi, Obito and Rin were fidgeting, worried. Obito was actually… well... calmer than the others, but still very pale. Rin and Kakashi would glance at him every once and awhile._

_Yondaime sighed, for appearances sakes, he had to act like he didn't know if anything wrong was afoot._

"_Well, I'll see you in a month, kay Guys?" he smiled broadly, not feeling it inside at all. He couldn't stand it, and gave them all hugs, just incase he would never see them again. The feeling that he wouldn't see at least one person got stronger and stronger. _

"_Naruto.." he whispered into the miniature blonds head as he hugged him goodbye._

"_Please… take care…"_

"_I will… tou-san…"_

_He watched them leave, restraining every urge to go after them and drag them back to prevent them from leaving._

-What is this feeling? This feeling of… dread?-

**_End_**

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Naruto yawned and stretched, scratching the side of his head as he got up to take a leak. He hated having mid-watch. Kakashi, Obito and Rin were sleeping in the two tents set up, while Naruto was sitting by the fire, waiting. Or at least, he had been.

"Shouldn't have had so much water…" he grumbled as he unzipped his hands, and letting it rip with a pleasant sigh. He was, of course, acutely aware that the bush he was taken a leak in, was occupied.

Naruto mentally grinned. –_If your planning an Ambush, make sure your opponent doesn't already know you are there…­_-

'**Not fair seeing as the opponent has super sensitive Demonic hearing….'**

-_Where have you been, Plushi-sama?_- all he got in response was a growl and Naruto chuckled, humming a little tune as he finished emptying himself on the poor 'bush.'

Naruto went to sit back on his log, discreetly hiding the fact that he sent a senbon needle into the two tents with a black piece of paper on them. No doubly wakening the others up for the attempted Ambush ready to be made.

They were currently trekking through Grass country, who had recently signed a treaty with Earth becoming a profitably supply line into fire country. It had taken only Naruto's sneakiness to get them past most of the patrols without fighting, so far. However it now appeared that their luck had run out.

Naruto slowly eased a hidden Kunai into his hand, making sure to keep the projectile hidden beneath his black sleeve. To the far west he sensed two familiar chakra signatures and breathed a sigh of relief. So far, everything was going according to plan B.

Naruto unobtrusively stretched backwards again as a storm of Shuriken and Kunai sailed just over him, heading into the boy's tent. The blond was up and ready in a defensive position immediately as Kakashi and Obito came out of their tent, followed shortly by Rin from her tent.

"How many are there?"

"6." Came Naruto's short response. Instead of waiting for his attackers to come to them, he formed a familiar looking cross with his hands.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu…" he whispered, as 50 clones burst into existence in a circular pattern around them.

"Fan out." He ordered, and they leapt into action, jumping into trees and harassing their would be ambushers.

"Kori Shinchuu no jutsu…" If Naruto didn't have such advanced hearing, he would have never heard it. None the less, he didn't dwell on it for now, making them run in circles might be productive for them, but Naruto already could see through it.

"**HyouTen no jutsu**" he muttered, as he held out his palms and 6 tendrils of chakra floated around before snapping tightly in seemingly random directions. There were 3 people behind Naruto who weren't his team mates, and the other 3 were facing him.

"You guys take the ones behind me, Kakashi you take the one on the right of me as well, I'll take the other two." He commanded quickly, cracking out orders like he'd been doing it for years.

No sooner had the words left his mouth that everything got hectic. Seeing as they had failed to harm the people in the tents, their 'ambushers' came out and attacked them fully. Naruto felt they were sloppy, not just in plan, but in technique as well. Merely low chuunins, nothing to worry about.

"Kirigakure no jutsu!" Okay, so maybe it was something to worry about. How in hell did a grass ninja know a mist technique? However, he couldn't think on it any further as a sword just barely missed impaling his side as he swerved in the steadily increasing fog.

"Shit shit shit-… RASENGAN!" Naruto suddenly called out, as all the mist started to swirl into a tornado around him, effectively minimizing the area affected, giving the others some visibility once again. Naruto could have sworn he heard Rin thank him somewhere to his left, but he couldn't be sure. While that was happening, Naruto multi-tasked by exerting a certain amount of Chakra to create a kage bunshin without the hand seal, from there it did the rest, forming a series of hand seals before calling out softly the name of his next jutsu.

"Soushuuha.." almost all of Naruto's shuriken were now floating around him. Naruto smirked, sensing his two opponents, one behind, one in front of him. They wouldn't know what hit them… literally. Naruto took a deep breath and dispelled his clone and his rasengan, allowing the mist to settle once again. His two opponents launched their attack just as Naruto sent out his floating Shuriken at blinding speeds. A split second later, Naruto heard the tell-tale sign of two bodies hitting the ground with a sickening 'squilsh' and 'thump.'

Finally able to properly dispel the mist, Naruto ran his hands together before calling out an experimental jutsu, he ever so loved to test them in real battle.

"**Gekido Shiki, Kaze Arashi!"** he roared out, impressing himself with the results as his chakra poured out from his tenketsu's, initiating a massive current of wind and blasting outwards, effectively dispelling all the mist; Kind of like a stationary Kaiten.

He looked first at his two opponents, dead. He sighed, turning his gaze to Rin who was handling her opponent admirably. Obito, he noticed was fighting 3 people. He frowned. 3 people? He looked a little further and saw Kakashi on the ground, bleeding from his head. Naruto paled and cursed inwardly as he launched himself in their direction.

He'd have to make this count; the wind storm actually took a lot out of him. It was one of the drawbacks of doing experimental jutsus in a battle, minus the ever present and high probability of everything going terribly wrong.

"Doton, **Daichi** **Kasui no jutsu**" Naruto formed the seals once he was close enough, praying his aim was bang on. It seemed lady luck was with him, two long thing spikes of stone rose from the ground at a blinding speed, unknown to the two men who were impaled on them. One had lodged itself through one attackers lung, another through the young mans forehead.

He checked back on Rin, only to find her a foot behind him, her face pale. Naruto made a comical face as he jumped in shock, earning a half amused glance from the kunoichi, but she was focused on Kakashi. Once the last opponent was dealt with by Obito, she rushed over to take in the damage.

While Rin was tending to their fallen comrade, Naruto interrogated Obito.

"Obito? What happened?" he asked softly, seating himself down beside the boy, slightly winded.

"I turned when Kakashi shouted… after you got rid of the some of the mist…. He just fell… and I got so… angry… I was so scared that…. That-" Naruto understood perfectly, a flash image of Sasuke clouding his vision from their first C-rank turned A-rank.

"I don't mean that, I mean you took on _3_ guys! On your own! And you were doing pretty good, but you were tireing…"

"I dunno what happened… one moment it seemed hopeless… the next it was as if…everything slowed down to an impossible level…." Naruto mentally snickered.

"Obito, look me in the eye." He commanded, and made no startled intake of breath when he was met with crimson instead of the smooth onyx. Actually Naruto started to smile softly, before it turned into a full maniacal grin. Obito looked frightened (and for very good reason.)

"Congratulations. I always held onto the belief that late bloomers were the strongest."

"wha-" Naruto snickered and shook his head.

"Oh... you'll get it… eventually." Obito merely looked confused.

"I will what now? Tell mmeeeeee" Naruto laughed at him.

"Sharingan Obito." Naruto winked and hopped pleasantly over to Rin to see Kakashi, leaving Obito sitting down on the ground in a hapless daze.

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**HyouTen no jutsu** – Literally means "Mark-Point"

**GekidoShiki, Kaze Arashi** – Literally means 'Rage(ing)' 'Style' : 'Wind' and 'Storm.'

**Daichi****Kasui** – Literally means 'Ground' and 'Spike'

I'm not particularly fond of this chapter… I think it sucks. ;;


	11. 11 Dreaded Mission pt II: The Plan

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies.

**Tokyo no Ecchi** – shhhh! Don't tell anyone! . it's obvious.. I know.

**Ej** – you're right, it was rushed, and your questions are answered in this chapter I believe.

**Death's Tune** – I'm curious too!

((**Flaming Beauty** – I couldn't take them earlier, their provincial exams, and are only available on the day specified by the government, the only over option was to take them in August… and I wasn't about to.))

Thank you Dragonxpanda for editing! And thank you everyone for making over 10 reviews for last chapter! that makes me glowy inside… of course that could be the coffee too.

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"Kakashi, hold still!" Rin scolded, desperately trying to reattach a new eye-patch to the squirming white haired boy. They were currently hiding in a coven created by Naruto by manipulating the bushes around them with pure chakra. They were safe for the meantime.

"Kakashi!" Rin yelled, making the boy wince.

"But.. Rin… it huuuurts.."

"Well SORRY but you took ALL my painkillers already! Now stop squirming before I re-locate your manhood!" that shut Kakashi up rather nicely, much the amusement of Obito and Naruto who were sitting only a pace away. Seeing Rin fuss over Kakashi was cute, it reminded Naruto of the way Sakura would fuss over him and Sasuke. Gods he missed them.

Rin sighed, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts as she turned on Obito with a scowl written over her face.

"Damnit Obito! Conserve your Chakra! For Christ sakes, an enemy could attack at any moment! Stop playing with your Sharingan!" she shrieked and rounded on Naruto. Naruto gulped.

"And you!.. you…. Stop looking funny!" Naruto blinked as Rin huffed and sat back down, her triad finally running out of steam. Kakashi's good eye quirked upside-down in a smile. This was the Kakashi Naruto was used to seeing.

"Kakashi, go to sleep, you too Rin, Obito. I have the most Chakra left, and go for a long time without rest, I'll keep first watch, I'll wake someone when I'm tired." Naruto spoke up, cutting Rin off before she could object with a well placed hand and shoved her gently downward. She huffed and ignored him. Both Kakashi and Obito mutely followed his advice.

Naruto sighed.

'**Kakashi is blinded on his left eye now, gaki. What are you planning to do?'**

_-I'm going to summon a small form for you to inhabit, I need you to send a message to Sakura and Sasuke. They're about a mile away, closeing in fast.-_

'**It better not be another frog form….. what's the message?'**

_-Obito has to 'die'-_

'**WHAT? I thought you were adamant about saving them? Are you going back on your word now? Wow… to think… you might actually pass as a demon… I couldn't be prouder…'** insert a chibi-nine-tailed-foix sobbing hysterically.

_-You're a dumbass, I mean it! No, I'm exaggerating; Kakashi isn't Kakashi without Obit's Sharingan… Both Rin and Sakura are adequate Medic-nins that and do the transfer, however… from my knowledge, Obito was crushed by a rock. I've already told them that Obito gives his eye to Kakashi. I'm going to switch him. It'll be a surprise, Kakashi and Rin will think Obito's is dead, when he isn't... Sakura and Sasuke can convince Obito to give his Sharingan to Kakashi while still having his right one…_

_Actually, I think Obito might give it anyways, without the convincing.-_

'**Devious, but alright. Summon me and I'll go tell them the plan. Although.. I must say I am amazed at one thing.'**

_-what?-_

'**Your team-mates ability to read your mind and come here without being told.'**

_-heh, what can I say? We didn't start out as a dream team, but we turned into one, for sure.-_

"Kuchiyose no jutsu" Naruto whispered softly, without biting his finger or using seals, instead he channelled a small amount of Kyuubi's chakra to form a kage bunshin clone of a small one tailed fox about knee height. He did this instead of a normal bunshin because a fox was less inconspicuous than himself walking around searching for people. Plus it kept his reserve chakra from depleting.

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"Stop, Sasuke-kun…." Sakura panted, stopping on her tree-brance as Sasuke doubled back to check if she was okay.

"gomen, I just want to get there before something bad happens."

"Aye, aye… c-can we rest a bit? We're been moving non-stop and avoiding Akira all the way up here." Sakura told him, sliding down the tree trunk and sitting on her branch as Sasuke followed suit beside her.

It was true, some time ago, Akira had been tailing them. Even though they were very bad at confrontation with the man, they were good a hiding from him. It was the reason they were still alive.

"Sure, just for an hour though, and don't take any soldier pills.." he warned her. She rolled her eyes at the familiar reminder. She had told him not to take any the day before and was agitated that he dare turn her advice against her. Men… pfft.

"Naruto's very close."

"Yeah…" the lapsed into silence for a few moments, simply keeping an awareness for anything strange. When it came to fast moving, Sakura still lacked the endurance to keep up at Sasuke and Naruto's pace, it was her one fault. She was equal with them on nearly every other aspect. Sasuke started to stiffen, and Sakura glanced about, searching for the disturbance.

A stubby red and white fox jumped out from the bushes and started sniffing around before coming to their tree and looking right up at them.

"Kyuubi-sensei?"

"**Don't make me climb up there, bastards." **The fox retorted with an angry glare. Sure, Foxes could climb... but Kyuubi really didn't like to. Sasuke awakened his Sharingan again and used it to detect if Kyuubi was false, they were after all... in enemy territory.

"Kage Bunshin." Sakura sighed and wearily jumped down, stumbling a bit on her landing. Sasuke followed her and reached out to attack Kyuubi's ears with a smirk. The poor demon fox tried to recoil but couldn't and was forced to endure the torture of having his ears mercilessly (although blissfully) scratched. Kyuubi would later reiterate to Naruto that he didn't not purr… at all, really.

"What's the word?" Sakura asked, having sat down again.

"**Naruto says he's going to switch Obito just before he 'dies' you need to step in a get him. He wants to convince Obito to give Kakashi one of his sharingan without Obito having to die for it. He says that both Sakura and Rin are qualified for it, but he wants Sakura to do it since she has more experience with the Sharingan." ** Kyuubi told them, waiting for a response he could communicate to Naruto.

"We'll do it. When will they be attacked?" Sasuke asked, without consulting Sakura. The girl in question gave a huff and glared at him, but made no protest. Kyuubi closed his eyes for a moment, and spoke to Naruto. Although this was a Kage Bunshin of himself, he was still locked inside of Naruto.

"**He says, in 3 days, after they destroy the Kannabi bridge, he wants you to lie in waiting, but to not make any direct attempt to help them."** Sasuke committed that to memory and nodded.

"Kyuubi-sensei, Akira might become involved…." At this statement, Kyuubi's hackles rose and he trembled with his one tail between his legs.

"**Not good…"** Sakura and Sasuke looked grim. Even Kyuubi was afraid. **"I'll let him know, my time here is up."** With a puff he was gone. Sasuke sighed and went over to Sakura. He smiled ruefully and picked her up, much to her screaming, yelling, and annoyed protests and carried her piggy back.

"Undignified! You fucking scoundrel!" she cursed she beat upon him lightly (with her monstrous strength that is) and sulked again in anger. Sasuke grimaced then grinned, thinking about the ways he could blackmail her with this later on.

"Teme…" she sniffed, eventually calming down and blushing. Damn, she still had a tiny bit of lingering fan-girlism. She quickly squashed it, reminding herself that Sasuke was her brother now. She then got an evil thought.

"You better not put me down bastard, or I'll shop off what defines you as a man…" she purred into his ear, watching as the corner of his face paled dramatically. Sasuke cursed, so much for blackmailing her for the piggy back, how do things always turn against him? Why didn't he have Naruto's incredible luck? Why were there fake tears streaming helplessly down his eyes? Damn.

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"After yesterday's incident, take your headbands off and anything that connects you to Konoha. We're going into a village soon after we pass by the Kannabi bridge, got it?" they nodded. Rin was glaring at Naruto, and he knew why. He didn't wake anyone up last night to take second watch, and he was still the freshest person amongst the group.

"Good, Rin stay on Kakashi's left at all time, you're his missing eye, got it? Obito, you'll be in front, I want you to alternate between using sharingan, and not. The reason is endurance and because you'll be able to stop something. I'm in back since I have better skills in back defence and detecting movement behind us, got it? We're heading to this village for supplies only, and none of us are going our actual appearances, I'll be casting a high-powered demonic genjutsu on us to prevent discovery. Don't do anything to give you away, got it?" they nodded again.

"Right then, lets get moving, there's no point in dallying. Kakashi stay put, let us pack your things." Kakashi nodded slowly, with a slightly feverish look about him. Naruto frowned, and went to speak privately with Rin.

"Rin…. Kakashi doesn't look so hot, pay extra attention to him, and get more medic supplies…" she frowned, turned to look at the white haired boy and nodded. She was very worried over Kakashi.

"Alright, lets head out." Naruto exclaimed, shouldering two packs, his and Kakashi's and waited for Obito to set the pace. Within moments they were off. Naruto purposefully stayed a smidge back away from the main group and made the ever so familiar cross seal.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu." He whispered, but instead of his normal clones, 3 birds burst into existence than fled into the tree tops. Their orders were to keep guard.

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They traveled for an hour, stopping only twice for Kakashi to rest. They went relatively undisturbed, but Naruto knew they were being followed and watched. As they passed the kannabi bridge, he spotted Sasuke and Sakura in their cleverly hiding positions. Sakura waved at him and he smirked.

However, more stone shinobi were following them. They were likely using an invisibility genjutsu and masking their chakra. It went against everything Naruto believed in, but he didn't do anything about them, they would come into play later, no matter how much he grinded his teeth in frustration. In order for his plan to work, he couldn't jump the gun like he normally would.

"The village is just up ahead guys, beyond the Bamboo forest." Naruto informed them, thinking back to, or rather forward 7 years to the trip to stone he made then. The village wasn't that old, but not that new either, it would still be there.

He was right, he saw smoke stacks only a few paces ahead, and then they were making their way down a steep dirt slop onto the gravel road. Naruto stopped them before they met any civilization.

"Don't give anything away, I'm warning you.. I'll make Rin with PMS in doctor mode pale in comparison if you get us caught. Rin, medic supplies, Obito weapons. Kakashi you're with me." He spoke sharply; taking Kakashi's left arm and hoisting it over his shoulder and helping the poor boy walk.

"Where we going?" he heard someone mumbled into his ear. Naruto sighed.

"A hotel room, so Rin had better patch you up."

"Oh.." the voice mumbled.

"before you go, come here, gather round real close." Naruto commanded, letting go of Kakashi briefly and running a long fast string of seals before whispering something hardly audiable.

"**Omoi** **taikae**" Rin and Obito felt the air around them change and shift, Kakashi would have noticed but he was in too much pain to really pay attention. Obito turned to Rin to ask if he looked any different when his eye's bulged out of their sockets.

"What?" she asked, looking at Obito with a confused look. He didn't answer her, instead blood spurted from his nose and he fell unconscious. Rin grew a vein and was about to punch Naruto for whatever he did to her, only to find he was long gone.

"God damnit!" she cursed, kicking the fallen Obito's shins in frustration.

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**Omoi** **taikae **– Literally means 'Massive' 'Physical-Alteration' (genjutsu)

Hangover bad. Xx


	12. 12 Dreaded MIssion pt III: Hotel Fun

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies

Blue Moon201 – eventually :p

AznAnimeChick – hahaha, I mention it only briefly, but use your imagination –winkwink-

This chapter is RAW, I think my Beta went on vacation or didn't get my email… ;; and I feel bad for having this in my files for a week.

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Naruto sighed heavily as the 'busty and blond' Rin tended once again to their injured comrade. It was strange, really, how oddly comforting it was to think of them as such. When Naruto had first started out on this wild crazy ride into the past (two times, might he add) he thought it would be awkward.

Instead, it felt right. As if… it was meant to happen. Naruto viciously shook his head. _–I don't believe in fate, the bitch.- _ he mentally grumbled, hearing nothing but a murmured agreement from his tenant.

A sharp hiss brought Naruto from his thoughts as Kakashi fidgeted in pain. Rin was attentively cleaning his eye-wound with some anti-bacterial alcohol. The blond gaki sympathized with the one eyed ninja, really he did.

"Kakashi-kun, whatever happens, you absolutely _must_ pay attention to your left side. Your ninja skills have been completely rendered useless, and at best… you're at half of your usual talents. Therefore, you must be diligent in protecting your left, got it?" Kakashi nodded solemnly. Secretly, Naruto could tell that his future sensei was royally pissed. Angry at Naruto for not saving him, however, said blond looked over to their black haired goof-ball member and smiled. Obito already looked to be in deep thought.

_-Perhaps this will be easier than originally anticipated. Now… if only what's-his-face would show up at the opportune moment…- _ Naruto grinned evilly, not bothering to notice the traumatized look on Rin's face as she edged away from him. Naruto was indefinably plotting something.

"Get some sleep, kay guys? And lady… we leave tomorrow, preferably before first light. Kakashi, you above all need rest, got it?" Kakashi flinched at Naruto, but nodded none the less as the others started packing their things for easy movement in the morning.

Naruto lost the fight with Rin over one of the beds, so he opted to sleep against the wall, by the door incase of an attack. He settled into a comfortable position and was ready to sleep when a certain oversized plushi interrupted him.

' '**yo!'**

_-W-T-F, no really, what the hell? I'm trying to sleep, mole-rat.-_ Kyuubi growled at the insult while contemplating not telling his human host…. Screw his pride this time.

'**Listen, I've been thinking a lot of about our pursuer.'**

_-Sigh…. What now? Going to tell me there's a way to defeat him?-_

'**Yep!'**

_-………………-_

'**Hehehe… you know…. That thingy? Do you remember, after the Uchiha had rescued you from the crater left after Takako had you?'**

_-What are you getting at? Plushi-sama?-_ Kyuubi growled, his mental eye twitched violently.

'**Grrr… are you stupid! Do you remember how you experimented with the 10 fingered rasengan attack? You actually got him, right? Well… something seemed off, he didn't have any injuries, and yet Akira STILL looked as thought he'd been severely drained, as if he had been injured. Do you even recall was he was wearing?'**

_-No, so tell me.-_

'**The STONE! The f-ing god damned necklace! MY GOD! My brain… it just imploded because your stupidity! Why! WHY COULDN'T I BE IN A SMART-'**

_-What about this necklace, and why is it important?- _ Kyuubi calmed down with a grumpy sigh and eyed his container through the mental bars of his cage.

'**The necklace itself isn't what is important, nor the jewel, but actually, what's incased in the jewel.'**

_-Incased? As in, whatever is in it, keeps him alive?-_

'**Well... Sort of… it's actually hard to explain, I've been giving it some real thought, don't laugh flesh-monkey, I meant it. You know how your body can get injured and all that, right? And how the process works in terms of healing? Well….. hn.. This is actually more difficult to explain than I thought. Okay, think of it like this; all physical wounds appear on the physical body-'**

_-How does that help me? I'm not a demon, I don't have a higher understanding on some of the things that you do, BiBi-chan.- _

'**I know, let me try. All physical wounds appear on the physical body, unless… the physical body isn't there.'**

_-Buh?-_

'**Think about it a bit more. Do you remember how some of your attacks seemed to just go through him?'**

_-Aa… now that I think about it… but how could he do Jutsu, if he has no body? Chakra is composed of physical and spiritual energy…-_

'**Here's another clue, have you ever seen him do hand-seals?'**

_-No…..- _Naruto replied slowly, as the cogs in his brain started moving faster, catching up to Kyuubi's train of thought.

'**Rock Lee using only Taijutsu, therefore, only uses Physical energy…'**

_-Consequently, it is also a possibility for someone to use only spiritual energy as an attack…-_

'**You're almost there, Gaki… keep thinking about it.'**

_-Spiritual energy… no hand-seals…and.. a pendant… spirit… soul…. Soul..Pendant… His soul is in the pendant….? Then.. how does he move? Function? If his body isn't there…-_

'**It's not so much as his body isn't there, and it probably didn't belong to him in the first place, but the body is probably so decomposed, that it's only the spiritual energy the pendant emits, keeps what remains there. He probably is nothing but dust, hence why every attack seems to go through him. The body cannot live without the soul.'**

_-Wait, if he's nothing but a soul, hanging onto a bunch of dust… how did my 10 fingered rasengan attack, harm him?-_

'**That attack is pure chakra, it harmed the necklace, since at least once of those tiny Rasengan's was near the necklace; which leads me to believe that the only reason that Akira fights as if he really was in a physical body-'**

_-Is to draw away from the necklace, and make it look like a normal piece of jewelry. Is that why he was after me and Sasuke? For a body?-_

'**Bingo, at least… I think so. His soul forces out the host body's soul, although it would be double the work if he took over your body, I think he has a personal grudge against you. If anything, he's after the Uchiha.' **Naruto started after that, pondering silently the way Kyuubi had said that last part. After the Uchiha-…?

_-… Holy fuck! Akira is Orochimaru!- _instead of getting a response, Kyuubi roared with laughter while Naruto sulked at his stupidity.

_-How... could I _not_ see that before? It makes perfect sense. Let me guess, the body decomposes faster, but its far more convenient for him than the Furou Fushi no jutsu, which consumes too much chakra, where as this method uses drastically less… right?-_

'**And bingo was his name-o! Actually, from what I can gather, it doesn't matter how fast the body decomposes, because he can still use it efficiently even if it's dust, so long as the necklace is still attached. However, there is a draw back, he can force out the soul, but not erase memories or personality, so 'Akira' is more than likely controlled by Orochimaru.'**

_-Somehow, this doesn't seem right. Orochimaru wouldn't put his entire soul into an experiment without a 100 percent success rate that was far more preferable than his other method.-_

'**Hrm… I didn't think about that. Maybe the pendant is only a shard of his original soul?'**

_-Divide and conquer method, he desires the entire world's jutsu's, therefore, he splits himself up. The shard then must have someway to transmit everything that the host sees…shit! He knows my techniques!-_

'**We don't need to worry about that, most of your techniques are unique to you and you alone, at best he could learn Rasengan, but I doubt it. Don't feel bad about not figuring this out either, it took me forever to get it, and I've been puzzling over it for the entire time since you left Konoha and had your 'first' run in with him.'**

_-Well! Don't I feel.. huh… wait.. How long have you known this?- _ Naruto mentally demanded, glaring fiercely at the now sweating-bullets demon fox.

'**Oh… about since you first traveled back in time.'**

_-…. Fox meat.- _ this was followed by a giant popping noise in the recesses of Naruto's mind. When the mental smoke lifted, behind Kyuubi's bars there was an open spit fire with a Chibi-fox tied up wearing a florescent pink tutu, rotating slowly over the fire. Naruto left him then, falling further back into unconsciousness to catch some shut-eye. He was purposely ignoring all the insults the fox was spewing out, although... some of them were so crafty he'd bet even a hardened sailor would blush.

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"Up, everyone up I say!" Naruto kicked Obito in the shins, earning a painful yelp from the Uchiha. Kakashi groaned from his bed, and Rin sat bold upright.

"I 'uld 'ike 'ake with mm' shrimp…." She muttered, before realizing where she was and how early it was. She whimpered.

"don't wannnaaa!" she whined, Naruto on the other hand, was visibly annoyed and amused.

"Oooh?" he cracked his knuckles menacingly. "Perhaps… You need incentive?" he grinned cruelly, earning wide and frightened eyes from everyone as he reached into his weapons pouch to pull out his method of torture…..a… red… lacy… bra?

"Oi! Kakashi, you want Rin's bra? She only has one pair… and it's red… and laaaacy." He waved it in front of the soon-to-be perverted boy. Already one could see the heavy blush and nosebleed behind the mask the boy always wore. Rin, meanwhile was fuming. She jumped out of bed and made to attack Naruto, who gracefully danced away.

"Give that back! God damnit! How DARE you!" she screeched at him, attempting to tackle him to the ground and did so successfully. She had him pinned beneath her while all Naruto did was grin that foxy smile of his.

"Oh wow, Rin-chan… I never knew you thought of me this way." Rin went scarlet and bolted off of him and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. Naruto chuckled evilly before producing…. A… red… lacy… panty.

"Ooooh Ooooooobitooo! Want Rin's undies?" Naruto had to duck and roll as a kunai imbedded itself against the wall where his head had been, he looked over to see a fully enraged kunoichi with a triple death glare aimed his way. Naruto smiled cheekily.

"Heh…" and popped into smoke. Rin's eyes widened.

"NARUTO!"

Meanwhile, Naruto was downstairs sipping some coffee that the hotel staff had made for the early birds who had to leave before dawn. He smiled as his name reverberated throughout the entire hotel, rudely awakening the inhabitants. He shook his head with a chuckle.

"Temper, temper, Rin-nee-chan." He said softly, taking another sip. He sighed, going over the information he had received yesterday night. Akira was… a part of Orochimaru. According to Kyuubi's theory, he used Spiritual attacks, therefore did not rely on hand-seals, and had an abundance of Spiritual energy, as the spirit replenishes faster than the physical body. Further more, there was no telling how powerful the pendant was if Naruto got his hands on it.

There was a 50/50 chance of being taken over once he ripped it from Akira's neck. He had to devise a way to prevent that from happening before he destroyed the thing. Naruto sighed, he'd worry about it when it came, and right now he had to stick to his first plan; Operation: Fool-yard. What? It's a crafty name!

"You…. Are a menace to society." Came a grumbling voice behind Naruto before said voice took a seat beside him at the empty table.

"Oh?" Naruto eyed Obito, he had a nasty bruise on his right cheek, curtsey of Rin, most likely.

"Rin wouldn't dare hurt Kakashi, you weren't there to vent on.. soo.." Naruto snickered into his mug.

"Closet pervert." He taunted. Obito went red and glowered at him.

"I am not!" he vehemently whispered, shivering and looking around to see if Rin was there or not.

"Are too, why else would you have looked like Christmas had come early when I waved those red panties in front of you?" If possibly, Obito went any redder.

"Shhhhhh! Don't… don't tell anyone…!"

"Tell anyone… _what,_ Obito-kun…" Came a menacing voice behind Naruto. Both boy's went as pale as the ghost as the ever-still-enraged kunoichi stood behind them, cracking her knuckles in a highly intimidating manor.

"This is going hurt.." Naruto mumbled. Obito merely whimpered.

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BAM! I bet you weren't expecting that! –cackles- (not the bam… the other thing….¬.¬ )  
And….. EEEEE I have 100 reviews! That makes me so happy!


	13. 13 Dreaded Mission IV: Eye for An Eye

**Gravity**

Standard disclaimer still applies.

This chapter is Raw... sorry again, and I appologise once again for lateness, i was busy.. No review responces this time... Sorry, anways, the end for this story will probably be anti-climatic. It is comeing up, a few more chapters.

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After receiving several bumps on the head and an earful from Rin, Team Kakashi was once again moving out. To Naruto, it seemed as though every step they took made the atmosphere around them tense even greater. Obito was looking around frantically while trying to hide it, Kakashi was sulking much like the cool person he is, and Rin... Well aside from her pale face Naruto couldn't tell what she was thinking.

The Blond haired missing-nin sighed heavily as they neared the main city. This time he had used his fortified genjutsu to create the illusion of travelling merchants and families, fleeing neighbouring villages to what they deemed safe. This was of course aided by Naruto's handy-dandy Kage Bunshin clones.

"Naruto…." The blond jerked his head upwards to Obito who looked highly uncomfortable as he addressed him.

"Hai, Obito-kun?" Naruto tilted his head to the side as he asked silently what was wrong. Obito flinched.

"It's….n...nothing, never mind." He said hurriedly and continued marching forwards. From what Naruto could remember of the details of Kakashi's mission to stone village, they actually never made it to this point because of Kakashi's eye and had turned back, only to get ambushed at Kannabi bridge. Perhaps Obito was unsure of how to proceed?

'**Or maybe he's scared of dying?'**

_-Or that.-_

"I won't let my comrades die; I will do everything within my power to prevent such a thing." Naruto spoke up, coldly, vehemently; causing all 3 ninja's who belonged in the past to jump at the sudden proclamation.

The rest of their trip was taken in silence, they were searched upon entry to Stone Village and ANBU were watching them, but Naruto's demonic jutsu could not be wavered or seen through. They held strong during the week in which they stayed, gathering information when they could, pretending to be a merchant family when they couldn't. The tension that week was only made bearable by Naruto's foolish attempts to take their mind off of it.

He almost felt bad for the prank he was going to pull on them… Almost…

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Tsunade ground her head in frustration while Sandaime looked on it bemusement. Yes indeed, this was a very interesting situation. Although, he shouldn't be surprised, Naruto was the most surprising Ninja in the _entire_ ninja world.

"Let me get this straight…. We already know the effects of… Whatever Naruto did, which is to say, lapses in memory, minor changes in personal memories, but the major things stay the same."

"If what Kakashi and Iruka tell me of the way Kazekage-sama performed the jutsu; then yes, that's what I remember of it."

"Why aren't you still dead then? As far as I'm concerned, your death was pretty major." Godaime spoke through gritted teeth as she puzzled to figure this out. Sandaime merely started to chuckle that annoying chuckle of his while smoking his pipe.

"Well… time travel is tricky like that… major events can change if an even greater event was altered even in the slightest." Tsunade still didn't get it, her eyes narrowed as yet another vein grew in her forehead.

"What's THAT supposed to mean old man?" she roared, slamming her fist down and, unfortunately, breaking her own desk in two. She wasn't in the mood for games.

"If it helps any, my other set of memories indicates Yondaime saving me in the nick of time against Orochimaru at the Chuunin exams…" Sandaime watched as Tsunade paled, stood up and began pacing while ranting to herself about barmy old men.

"Impossible! His soul was taking by the f-ing Shinigami for Christ sakes! You're shitting me old man! Arashi is DEAD! D.E.A.D! dead-dead! Yondaime alive.. pfffft HA! Don't make me laugh you ignoramus-"

"I love you too, Tsunade-ba-ba" Interrupted a smooth, laughing voice from the doorway. Tsunade froze and turned slowly in shock.

"A-arashi…….?" She breathed, and then twitched. "WHO YOU CALLING OLD HAG?"

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"Daichi Kasui no jutsu!" roared out a familiar voice. Up raised a large, thin spike at blinding speeds and impaled the dazed stone ninja straight through the forehead. Naruto didn't pause to puke at his handy work, he was busy as yet another Ninja came across him.

They had been leaving when, as predicted, they were ambushed in their cave just short of the Kannabi Bridge. So far, everything was going as planned, well… at least for him it was.

The blond Gaki ducked out a roundhouse kick and came up swiftly in a reverse elbow strike on his opponent's nose. He bunched up his legs onto the man's chest and shoved off him in a black flip, using his momentum to kick, and kick hard right into the man's jaw, effectively breaking it.

Naruto landed only to feel a stinging pain in his left shoulder. He snarled and turned viciously around, not even going for a kunai and using his claws to tear out the man's throat. He just knew he was going to have nightmares after this, but he couldn't stop now. There were more of them than originally anticipated.

"Sharingan!" he heard somewhere behind him, he turned just in time to see Obito engage one of his fallen opponents who hadn't the sense to stay down. Naruto reached behind him and pulled out the bloody kunai lodged in his shoulder, he threw it at blinding speeds into Obito's opponent's leg, creating an opening for the Uchiha to kick the man in the chest.

But he got up and Naruto narrowed his eyes. The man smirked from the rubble he was standing on, and started a string of long complicated seals. The blond's eyes widened and he gasped.

"SHIT! Get out, NOW!" he roared, grabbing Obito by the arm and running. Unfortunately, the cave was deep and the exit was still a ways away from them when the ceiling started to rain down on them.

"Kakashi!" the silver haired boy paused and looked around, Obito grabbed his team-mate and tossed him into Naruto, who was running towards him, with such force that they knocked into Rin and out the exit.

"OBITO!" Rin screamed. Naruto was wide with shock and pale with dread.

"No… no… NO! NO NO NO NO!" he suddenly started screaming.

Nearby a tree puffed into smoke.

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Obito looked around, wondering how in hell he'd end up in a forest. He walked a little bit and then stopped.

"Is this heaven? Gods, I died didn't I….." Obito collapsed into a heap, unaware of the two figures behind him.

"Hardly." One voice said dryly, but with a hint of humour. Obito didn't even turn around.

"Oh... is this hell then? I wonder what I did to get here." He pondered out loud; he had his back turned so he missed the stifled giggles and grins on the two figure's faces.

"Nope, not there either." Answered a female, it was obvious she was amused.

"Oh… Limbo then?"

"Obito-kun... you're a hopeless idiot." She said, the Uchiha jerked around and gazed goldfish mouthed at her.

"Whaaaaa! Why does an angel look like Sakura-chan?" Obito puzzled, unfortunately, the Angle-Sasuke look-alike nearly peed himself laughing as he doubled over with horse chuckles.

"Obito… you are not dead…" he managed to say after catching his breath.

"Before you ask us any questions, let's just say that after Years of being neglected by Kakashi for training, Naruto is pulling the ultimate prank on him."

"Be glad he's such a good actor." Sasuke added as he went over to pick up the confused uchiha.

"So.. I'm _not_ dead?"

"Yes Obito, you're _not_ dead…"

"You're _sure?_" Obito inquired toward Sasuke while Sakura was starting to look annoyed.

"Yes!"

"Really? How am I supposed to believe you? You could be the devil in disguise you know!" he pointed rather rudely at them while Sasuke grew a vein and Sakura was starting to look murderous… Gods... was Obito-sempai really such an idiot? Did he _have_ to resemble Naruto so much?

"Ehehehe… I'm kidding guys! I'm not that stupid!" Sasuke growled and smacked him upside down the head while Sakura was thinking something along the lines of: _Could have fooled me…._

"Anyways, Obito... about Kakashi's eye…" Obito smiled a rare smile.

"I think it'll be cool ya know? We could be like… the copycat duo! So… when do we start?" he bounced from foot to foot in excitement and apprehension. After all, who liked surgery? Sakura and Sasuke smirked.

"When Naruto gives us the signal."

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Naruto sat in a complete daze, staring emptily into the fire.

"…. Wasn't... supposed to happen…." He knew Kakashi and Rin were angry at him, and yet they also pitied him because he had failed his nindo. Naruto kept muttering the same thing over and over under his breath, sometimes falling silent, sometimes talking, but he never talked _with_ them... only _to_ them…Rin felt bad, she'd lost a team-mate and Naruto was blaming himself.

No one said anything. Kannabi Bridge had been destroyed on their way back, and now they were on Konoha's borders, sitting around a camp fire and waiting for night to fall. Kakashi was the first to fall asleep, probably not wanting to stay awake and be forced with reality.

"Gomen…. Gomen gomen gomen…" Naruto repeated in a hoarse and cracked voice. He looked tearfully up at Rin who looked away.

_-And the actor of the year award goes too…..!- _ Naruto thought while keeping his mask firmly in place, watching Rin's actions and reactions.

"It's…. it'll be okay…. I mean... maybe he... got out? Yeah? I mean we didn't… didn't find his body or anything…"

"You're right, we didn't." Rin's head snapped up looking shocked into Naruto's calm voiced, smirking face. Her eyes widened and she gaped for a moment before whispering harshly.

"You didn't?" Naruto nodded and moved to sit beside her. Rin leaned in as Naruto cupped her ear to speak to her.

"Do you have any Chloroform?" Rin jerked back in surprise and looked at him weirdly, confusion written all over her face. Naruto grinned and pointed to Kakashi, then his left eye. For a moment, Rin sat there starring at him before she remembered some of the stories Naruto had told about the older Kakashi.

Copycat Ninja Kakashi, _Sharingan_ Kakashi. It hit her like a ton of bricks and she shared Naruto's deceptively devious look as she nodded. She put her hands together and then put them on the side of her head and leaned into them, indicating sleep.

"I'll… I'll take first watch… Naruto-kun…" she said, attempting sadness. Naruto's shoulders hunched in silently shaking laughter as he moved towards his bed, watching as Rin moved stealthily over to Kakashi with a rag coated in Chloroform.

Now wouldn't he be in for a surprise when he woke up?

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Kakashi groaned as he awoke, his nose felt unusually sensitive and he had a sickly feeling crawling down his throat. Not to mention a splitting headache and his empty eye socked throbbed painfully.

"Sleep well, Temee?"

"Shut it, Obito." Kakashi snapped. There was a tense silence while Kakashi stared stupidly at the one eyed grinning Uchiha. He stared… and stared… and stared…. And stared some more.

"O.. obito!" he gasped. Said boy grinned sheepishly and laughed at his friend's startled expression. It was then, as well, that Kakashi realized something about his vision seemed off; he chalked it off as getting used to being one eyed and rushed over to Obito. He tripped nearly twice as for some reason, his mobility seemed lopsided and his head protested dizzily. However, that didn't stop him as he literally threw himself onto his friend.

Yes, his friend. Kakashi had realized that Obito was indeed his friend, a dear and valued one at that. "You're alive!" he whispered over and over. Now, this might be considered quite a lewd scene if there had been less clothing involved, but rest assured, Kakashi just really valued his friends.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Complained a nearby Rin as she watched her two male team mates embrace each other in a very, _very_ rare show of affection.

"After all, who was it who transplanted that eye? Oh right… that was me! Don't I get a hug?" Rin was pouting, and as she thought, with good reason. She wasn't one to deny Kakashi's good looks, despite his ever present mask.

Said silver haired young Jounin blinked repeatedly in confusion as he disentangled himself from the Uchiha.

"What eye?"

"Obito's eye, into your empty eye socket." Rin explained, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards. Kakashi's now mismatched eyes widened.

"N-nani?"

"Kakashi-sensei isn't Kakashi-sensei without that eye…" Sakura spoke for the first time, beside her Naruto and beside him Sasuke as the three of them stood a ways away, watching with amused expressions.

"Besides…" Kakashi turned back to Obito. "We could like… totally be the Copy-cat duo! We'll kick SO much ass!" the dark haired boy pumped his fist into the air, while Kakashi, having swiftly gotten over the shock, merely gave off an unimpressed air. Rin giggled.

"Anyways, we should probably get back now, we're not out of the clear yet." Rin spoke, gathering everyone's things and bagging them. Obito and Kakashi joined in and within moments they were ready to set out again.

They got 5 paces away when they realized their friends weren't accompanying them. Obito frowned, Rin cocked her head to the side and Kakashi (who had opted to hide his sharingan with his forehead protector now) gave a one eyed lidded gaze.

"You coming?" Obito asked. Sasuke shook his head.

"We're sorry, but this is as far as we go now."

"What? Why?" Rin asked. It was Sakura's turn to smile bitterly.

"We have to go home now, and face the music." There was a period of silence before Naruto spoke.

"Hey.. tell… tell my dad I love him, okay? And watch out for him, he's an idiot." He grinned, Causing Kakashi to snort.

"We'll see you again, right?" Kakashi asked. Naruto nodded.

"For sure, Oji-san!" Naruto waved before in three simultaneous puffs of smoke, they disappeared.

"Uncle? I'm not his Uncle!" Kakashi declared rather loudly as his gaze smouldered the spot Naruto once had been. Secretly however, he was smiling.

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Naruto sighed as he stood in the wheat field they had landed in. He was starring up at the sky serenely with a peaceful expression on his face. Sakura and Sasuke were also sharing this moment, standing side by side. It was a heroic image.

"Everything's going to be okay now." Sakura mumbled, smiling at the clouds.

"Aa…"

"Un…" were the responses.

"Demo…. There's one last battle we have to fight before going home." Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto, the peaceful surroundings shattered as a flock of birds fled the field. Yes, they knew who they had to fight.

Naruto's head snapped down and he stared straight ahead to a pale skinned long red haired figure standing not 20 meters from them, a sickly grin plastered onto his face and a stony cold black gaze boring into them.

"Isn't that right, Orochimaru-kun?"


	14. 14 Snuggle bunnies

**Gravity**

Standard Disclaimer still applies.

Don't Worry! There is still the epilogue! The true ending of this story I decided to include in the epilogue because the ending of the chapter almost made me cry… so I couldn't continue writing for fear it would ruin it. Don't make fun of my ending either…. I'm watching you!

random reader – lol! Oh yes, they will indeed be chronically late for _everything_.  
Flaming Beauty – …I think I'm going to take away the caffeine now…  
AznAnimeChick – Don't worry! There's an epilogue! I wouldn't be that cruel  
Ox King – I really try… My knowledge of Naruto is pretty much animeverse only with a bit of tidbits inbetween… so there was bound to be a lot of differences for people who read the manga before the anime….  
Tsumetai Taiyoukai – the battle might disappoint you, it did for me… for some reason, I just can't get it all out… its painful!  
III-Kit-sama-III – Okay! (Takes cookie)

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Naruto's head snapped down and he stared straight ahead to a pale skinned long red haired figure standing not 20 meters from them, a sickly grin plastered onto his face and a stony cold black gaze boring into them.

"Isn't that right, Orochimaru-kun?" almost immediately Sasuke and Sakura tensed, shifting eyes between their opponent and Naruto in concealed confusion. They weren't left with much option for interrogation as Sakura was suddenly plunging backwards as Sasuke was kicked flat in the jaw, spinning away onto the ground.

Being in the middle, Naruto had ducked and twisted out from under Akira's attack, heading to Sasuke's direction. He glanced over at Sasuke nursing his jaw, and within that moment, a battle plan was laid out. Naruto dashed as fast as his feet could carry him to the left, Sasuke to the right. Akira watched them warily.

"I know your secret…" Naruto suddenly said from behind him, Akira whirled and planted a back kick into Naruto's stomach only to be evaded at the last second as the blond gaki shifted to the side and flipped backwards, away from the red haired man. Akira would have given chase, but heat to the right alerted him to a large fireball coming to his direction. He laughed, letting the thing fly past him, completely unfazed.

He didn't anticipate the mountain crumpling fist of Tsunade's apprentice lodging itself into his cheek and sending him spiralling backwards, however. But he laughed all the same.

"Seems you've gotten a tick better, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan…." The man spoke, rubbing his jaw tenderly while Naruto narrowed his eyes from his crouched position.

"Ie… you let her hit you."

"Ie, it was an honest strike, really!" their enemy insisted with this sickening smile accompanied by the over sweet voice. Sakura launched forward, striking with the infamous heel drop, the smoke cleared and Akira was nowhere to be seen. Unexplainably Sasuke ducked and swerved bringing his leg up and around backwards, only to have the head of Akira lean backwards, letting the counterattack slide past him.

Nartuo, who was still crouched down, started running through seals quickly while he was occupied.

"Hyouton, **Hyouchuu** **no jutsu**" he whispered, in an instantly ice pillars were jutting from the ground as Naruto froze their arena, Sasuke and Sakura played the pillars with knowing looks, while Akira was forced to dodge each pillar, moving away from his intended targets and into the air.

"Tch.. Katon, **Kasen no jutsu!**" Akira whipped out his arm, causing a string of molten fire to lash out, crashing through the pillars he couldn't dodge. The fire whip continued on, making a beeline for Naruto who had gritted his teeth. Dislodge the ice jutsu, or take a hit?

"Suiton, Suiryuudan no Jutsu" Naruto smirked, adding more chakra to his attack and launching ice pillars from the ground to higher than trees while Akira was falling…

"Naruto!" The blond froze before he registered the pain, followed by skidding on the ground and rolling continuously before smashing into two trees and stopping. He didn't even see the man move, much less get out of the air. He whipped the blood from the corner of his mouth and growled like a fox. Bunshin. Tch, damnit.

The moment he got up, Sakura slammed into him, blood dripping from a nasty gash on her forehead. He traveled back further another 3 trees before he managed to slam a kunai down with one hand and slow his momentum.

"Sakura? ……" Naruto wanted to curse in as many colourful languages as he could, but he couldn't spare the moment. He laid her down gently and ran through a string a hand seals. He accessed one of the few healing techniques he knew and started on her cut. Back in the clearing, he heard explosions.

"Stay safe Sasuke… I'll be right there…" Naruto murmured, standing up and taking a deep breath. He pulled out a scroll and swiped some of his blood across it. With a puff of smoke dozens of oddly shaped Kunai revealed themselves and Naruto started storing them on his person. He smirked.

_**Flahsback**_

"_Well, actually Naruto, the technique is actually surprisingly simple; it's just the preparation before hand. You see, the seals made on each individual kunai and spare tag are made in your blood, so that only you can activate it. Than, it's just a matter of alignment… after that, it's relatively simple….. Just don't tell anyone I said that."_

"_You're giving me these?"_

"_Ah… technically speaking, you should be able to use them too, you are my blood." Arashi smiled and despite Naruto's age, he couldn't help but gleam like the child he was portraying._

"_Great! When do we get started?"_

"… _Naruto…..!" Arashi sighed. Damn the kid was helpless._

_**End**_

"Heh…. Oni-kai!" Naruto exclaimed, packing in more chakra to the reverse demon henge technique and getting out of his childish body much faster than the usual 5 minutes. In seconds he was standing full height in all his glory. He breathed a sigh of relief; it was so much better being tall again…

"Heh……. Hold on, just a bit longer Sasuke." Naruto muttered, moving quickly and launching out his father's special kunai.

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Sasuke held his bleeding arm close to his body. With one arm incapacitated, he couldn't do ninjutsu. He grumbled, dodging pathetically to yet another knee to the stomach attack as Akira manhandled him.

"You WILL be mine…" Akira said pointedly… no.. Orochimaru, Sasuke remembered incredulously to the name Naruto had called him. Although, it did make a bit of sense.

"Heh… Orochimaru… you know something?" Akira paused.

"Naruto put me through a genjutsu once…. Actually it wasn't too long ago really. It's just; I never had a chance to try it out until now. Heheh…. Actually it's pretty cool..." Sasuke started to stand upright, letting his limp arm hang lifelessly to his side, blood dripping onto the ground. His eyes were shaded by his hair even as the wind blew through it, ruffling his clothing. Akira could only see the white of his eyes through the shadows.

"Mangekyo Sharingan!" he called out, causing Akira to take several steps back, his eyes gleaming with unhidden desire.

"Heh…" Sasuke felt exhilarated that it worked; he'd thank Naruto for it later. He grabbed his lifeless arm and manipulated it into a hand seal while Akira watched on with unbridled glee.

"Susanno." Glee turned to horror as Akira started darting too and fro, trying to escape. Sasuke only said the words however, he hadn't activated the technique, and it wasn't time yet anyways.

"Tsuuten Kyaku!" Akira brought his arms up to block, enforcing them with sickly black energy as Sakura's leg impacted downward on him, creating a massive creator amidst the ice pillars and water. Akira's arms didn't seem damaged, but he still staggered as Sakura flipped backwards, landing beside Sasuke.

"Hiraishin no jutsu!" Akira jumped away quickly, only to be hit hard in the back. He went slewing forward into the pink haired girl's mighty fist before jerking backwards as Naruto came around to the side with a brilliant flash of gold and with a vicious kick; he nailed Akira in the collar bone.

Before, every battle they had with Akira, they would get owned by him. They would rarely, if ever, come out without serious injuries, of half alive. However, this time was different, a few new techniques, a clear target and the want to kill made this battle all the more different. This time, it was Akira on the run.

"Tch…" Akira got up slowly, coughing as he did so. Naruto smirked as he spotted a tiny crack in the amulet the bastard wore around his neck. Red hair had obscured his features, but if Naruto could see them, he'd be terrified.

"Play time's over." In a flash of red, Naruto was hit savagely in the chin. However, blond was ready, and in a similar flash of gold, he was gone. Flashes of red and gold appeared around Sasuke and Sakura as they kept close together. It was pure speed against Hiraishin, it for the moment, it looked like Speed was winning… until gold turned red as well.

"So, Sasuke.. I see you actually obtained mangekyou…"

"Ah, it's the same version Kakashi-sensei has; I think….I can't use Amaterasu or Tsukuyomi, only Susanno…. Which will be good enough."

"Sou ka…." Sakura mumbled as her eyes darted out watching the battle as much as her limited vision would allow.

Suddenly the flashes of red stopped as Akira was launched into the air, a bloody beaten and bruised Naruto on the ground panting heavily.

"Sasuke! The amulet… aim for... the amulet!" he just barely got out. Sasuke went to grab his limp arm only to realize it wasn't so limb anymore. He looked over to Sakura, but only received a wink. The Uchiha smirked and formed the hand seal Kakashi used before.

"Susanno!" he roared, keeping his eyes pinned on the amulet that was floating in the air just above Akira's chest. Akira was in the pinnacle of his accent before there was a great shifting of reality, then a burst of energy that flattened team 7 to the ground.

When it was over, Sasuke and Sakura saw ashes falling to the ground, or rather….dirt, grit, compost…. A bone or two were also thrown into the mix. Sakura went back to their bags and got out her medical supplies, starting to heal herself them made her way to the unconscious Naruto and Sasuke.

She noticed Sasuke had an unusual smile on his face, one she had only seen before his clan died. She fought down the school yard crush buried deep in her chest and started tending to him.

"That was anti-climatic, don't you think?"

"No… not really." Sakura perked an eyebrow at him, looking to where he was looking.

"Are you being… philosophical?" Sasuke scowled.

"No! it's just that… well… actually… it feels right." When his arm was full bandaged, as well as various other spots on his body, He laid backwards as Sakura left to tend to Naruto on his other side.

"We caught him off guard…. It was a perfect ending." Sakura watched as Sasuke's eyes faded from their illusive red back to their deep obsidian before closing with that smile on his face.

"You're weird, you know that? Absolutely nutty." She snorted; busying herself once again with Naruto's many injuries.

"hnnn… saaakuuuraa…. I have a headache… don't make fun of me!" Sakura merely fell over, glaring at the Uchiha.

"I'm surprised you're not unconscious. Kakashi was after using that attack for the first time you know..."

"aaah? Hai Hai…" came the sleepy mumble as the Uchiha unconsciously curled up against Naruto, seeking the warmth. If she hadn't seen it several times, she'd think there was something going on between the two, but she herself did the same thing in her sleep. The pink haired girl yawned before lying down and snuggling up to the bandaged blond, secretly wishing she was so lazy as to get the blankets out from their bags.

"Ne… Sasuke?"

"Hn…."

"Ie… nevermind."

"Hn."

It would be sometime later when Naruto awoke, staring up at the clear starry sky with a smile. With a string of chakra he brought their bags over to them without moving. From there, he extracted three blankets and covered him and his family with them. Naruto couldn't recall seeing the sky so clear, framed by pillars of ice and tall evergreens with a small pond growing at the base of the little hill they were on, reflecting the crescent moon back at the sky.

"Minna…. I love you." The blond said, closing his eyes and drifting off once again.

"ditto….Naruto-kun…" gurgled a voice.

"hn…" came another sleepy mumble. The sky above them shed one tear in the shape of a shooting star and Naruto couldn't help but smile.

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In Infinite **Grace** we find ourselves soaring above the others to an unknown destination. But in the end, we must all bow to the **Gravity** in which the flow of life takes us. Once we have come back down to earth and our physical essence finally shatters, all that is left behind is the **Grail** of our memories, the immortality that the people who love us remember us as.

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**Hyouchuu****no jutsu**– Literally means 'Ice Pillar' (also **Tsurara** ) (ninjutsu)

**Kasen****no jutsu**– Literally means 'fire arrow' (ninjutsu)

'Susanno' is a possible name for the implosion technique Kakashi used in the manga (I never read up that far…though, my bad.) says so at the site I got it at.

The Epliogue will be a separate 'story' (though very, very short) so look for the next one: **Grail**


End file.
